Is groundwater the solution to water scarcity in Africa?

Access to safe water and sanitation is critical to human health. Yet, around 1 in 4 people lack access to safe drinking water globally, and nearly 1 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases. This issue has become more pertinent as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to ensure everyone has access to good hygiene. 

Currently, Africa has the highest percentage of their population lacking access to safe water. For years it has been widely reported that this is due to water scarcity. However, according to a report released yesterday by Wateraid and British Geological Survey, groundwater resources in sub-Saharan Africa are believed to have enough to provide people with safe water for their drinking and hygiene needs while transforming agriculture.

Tapping into Africa's groundwater could change the continent's access to safe water for the better, but - as seen in Wateraid and British Geological Survey's report - investments in infrastructure and extraction must be made to avoid more water scarcity or prevent further hygiene-related diseases.

On Dealroom.co, we've mapped 120+ water technology companies working with clean water and sanitation, including startups working with groundwater treatment, water filtration, and wastewater management. Click the button below to explore our curated landscape and discover startups innovating and leading the water tech sector.

In other news

⛽ Germany clinches long-term gas supply deal with Qatar. Germany said it had sealed a long-term agreement with Qatar for the supply of liquefied natural gas as Berlin seeks alternative energy suppliers to Russia. - Financial Times

🧑‍⚖️ S. African court suspends building at new Amazon Africa site. South Africa’s High Court has temporarily halted construction of Amazon.com Inc. 's planned new Africa headquarters in Cape Town and ordered the company to consult with indigenous people who say the site is sacred land. - Bloomberg

📞 Not smart but clever? The return of 'dumbphones.' There has been an increase in people exchanging their smartphones for a less smart one. Dumbphones are continuing to enjoy a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021.  - BBC

Latest impact deals:

The largest this week:

🇫🇷 French startup Doctolib has announced that it has raised $549M in Late VC and debt. With this round, the company has reached a valuation of $6.4B making Doctolib the highest valued French startup.

🇺🇸San Francisco-based Heirloom Carbon, a startup that uses common minerals to soak up carbon dioxide from the air, has raised $53M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Carbon Direct Capital Management, Ahren Innovation Capital, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. 

🇪🇸 Nautilus Labs has raised $34M in Series B funding to decarbonize ocean shipping. M12 and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund played leading roles in the funding round.

🇬🇧 Shufti Pro, a London-based identity verification service provider, announced that it has secured $20M in a Series A funding round led by Updata Partners, a tech-focused growth equity firm.

Other promising impact deals:

🇬🇧 Vira Health, a London, UK-based provider of a menopause app called Stella, raised $12M in funding. The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from Optum Ventures and existing investors.

🇸🇪 Uppsala-based sodium-ion battery company Altris announced that it has raised €9.6M in a Series A funding round.  A combination of new investors and existing investors closed the round. 

🇩🇪 Berlin-based solar energy monitoring platform Solytic secured €2M for monitoring PV installations. The round was led by German energy company EWE AG and Polish fund, SpeedUp Energy Innovation

🇺🇸 d.light, a San Francisco-based solar energy startup, just announced that it has secured $7M in equity funding in a funding round led by OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I. 

🇧🇪 Belgian e-bicycle manufacturer, Cowboy, raised $1.9M in Late VC, after raising $80M in January of this year. The investment round was led by Crowdcube. 

🇳🇱 Utrecht-Based Green Story raised €1.1M in seed capital for its sustainability platform empowering greener choices. The investment round was led by 4impact.

Read up on all the latest impact deals in Dealroom.co

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Røskva Richardt

Impact Tech Specialist
Dealroom.co

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