1. W
ATER manage-
ment may not
sound like the
most interest-
ing industry to
be in, but Visen-
ti Pte Ltd be-
lieves that it
could be an extremely profitable one.
And, as evidenced by its win of “Most
Innovative Company” in the Clean
Technology category at the Singapore
Venture Capital and Private Equity As-
sociation Annual Awards this year, it
appears that potential investors be-
lieve so too.
An international team of four
heads the start-up, and three of them
hold PhDs in technology-related are-
as. Ami Preis, an Israeli, obtained his
PhD in civil and environmental engi-
neering. Mudasser Iqbal, who is from
Pakistan, and Michael Allen, who is
from the United Kingdom, both ob-
tained their PhDs in computer sci-
ence. Linus Koh, who is Singaporean
and the company’s director of busi-
ness operations, has been involved in
the financial sector for quite some
time, and has previously served as
chief financial officer of the Singapore
Exchange (SGX).
From source to tap
The company develops solutions to
monitor water distribution systems
and make them more efficient. In oth-
er words, explained Mr Preis, it helps
public utilities companies check on
the pumps and pipes that distribute
water to consumers so that they can
get the water from “source to tap” in
the most cost-efficient and safe way
possible.
The challenge facing public utili-
ties companies worldwide is that the
demands on water distribution sys-
tems are increasing, said Mr Preis.
This challenge is especially pro-
nounced in major urban areas such
as cities, which have to accommodate
an increasing number of inhabitants.
However, the pipes are often under-
ground, and this makes assessing
their condition less than straightfor-
ward. But if these public utilities com-
panies could monitor their distribu-
tion system real-time, they could po-
tentially benefit from cost savings of
about 10 to 20 per cent.
Enter the company’s WaterWiSe
Platform, which helps public utilities
companies do just that. This platform
has both hardware and software com-
ponents.
The hardware component consists
of the system’s sensing probes, which
are deployed within the water distri-
bution system, for example, within
pipes. These probes monitor parame-
ters such as water flow, pressure and
pH level. They relay this information
wirelessly to a data processing unit,
real-time. This information is then
sent to a central server.
At this point, the software compo-
nent of the platform comes into play.
In essence, it does four things. First, it
allows public utilities companies to
monitor any given parameter of the
water distribution system real-time,
without needing an engineer to be
physically present at the site.
Second, it predicts water consump-
tion patterns in respect of any particu-
lar portion of the water distribution
system. This involves the use of a
number of complex algorithms, ex-
plained Mr Iqbal.
Third, it sounds an alert whenever
there are any abnormal events in the
distribution system. Examples of ab-
normal events include leakages, an ex-
cessive build-up of pressure and pH
levels varying to unsafe levels. In this
way, the system serves as an “early
warning device, which is important
for water security”, said Mr Koh.
Fourth, it allows public utilities
companies to analyse the effect of any
proposed changes in the system with-
out having to be physically present.
For example, said Mr Koh, a compa-
ny could assess which homes would
have their water supply cut off by
maintenance works in advance. They
could then inform these consumers
beforehand so as to minimise the in-
convenience caused. This need not be
done on a desktop computer – it could
even be done on a smartphone, or
any mobile device that supported a
web browser. Thus, it would be espe-
cially useful to an engineer who had
to understand the possible effects of
any decision he made while at the
site.
As might be expected, the compa-
ny began as a spin-off from academic
research. Back in 2008, Mr Preis, Mr
Iqbal and Mr Allen were doing
post-doctoral research at the Singa-
pore-MIT Alliance for Research and
Technology (SMART), which is locat-
ed at the National University of Singa-
pore. Their research received positive
feedback from both academic quar-
ters as well as industry. This motivat-
ed them to consider commercialising
the technology.
At that point, Mr Koh, who is the
founding chairman of the MIT Enter-
prise Forum of Singapore, learnt of
the research and was interested in its
potential application. After discussing
means of monetising the technology,
all four decided to incorporate the
company in June this year.
Even prior to incorporation, the
core team of Visenti had been cooper-
ating with PUB, which is Singapore’s
water agency. In fact, said Mr Preis,
the WaterWiSe Platform was
fine-tuned by incorporating many of
the suggestions PUB, as well as other
partners, had given them over this pe-
riod.
Thus far, the company has yet to
require financing from banks. Banks
would tend to shy away from lending
to the young company anyway,
mused Mr Koh, who has himself
worked in banks before. “They re-
quire financial statements for your
three previous years. Otherwise,
they’ll ask for a personal guarantee.”
Instead, the company manages its
operations with a $250,000 proof of
concept grant from the SMART Inno-
vation Centre, as well as revenue that
it generates from its current opera-
tions.
Integrated system
The company is keen to grow, and is
confident that it can do so.
First, as explained by Mr Iqbal, the
WaterWiSe Platform offers an advan-
tage over the prevailing technology.
Prior to the WaterWiSe Platform, pub-
lic utilities companies had to use
many disparate technologies – both
hardware and software – to monitor
their water distribution systems. In
contrast, the WaterWiSe Platform
was an integrated or “end-to-end” sys-
tem that provided for the whole gam-
ut of monitoring and predictive abili-
ties that such companies needed. Fur-
ther, it was an “open-source” system,
which means that it can be effectively
integrated with other systems to meet
the public utilities company’s unique
needs.
Second, the sheer size of the mar-
ket strongly suggests that the compa-
ny will grow, said Mr Koh. As coun-
tries become increasingly developed,
their cities will grow. When this hap-
pens, demand on the water manage-
ment system will increase as well. In
this sense, the world is literally the
company’s oyster – it sees all public
utilites companies as potential cli-
ents.
Third, there is universal recogni-
tion that water distribution has to be
done more efficiently. This is because
it involves the management of two
scarce resources – water (which is be-
ing transported to consumers) and en-
ergy (which is expended in transport-
ing water to those consumers).
Fourth, governments worldwide
are imposing stricter regulations to
ensure the availability and security of
water. This encourages public utili-
ties companies to adopt more sophisti-
cated technology so as to ensure com-
pliance with these regulations.
Fifth, the company’s business is
such that it can turn profitable fast.
This is because it involves both recur-
ring and non-recurring sources of rev-
enue. To illustrate, it involves the sale
of hardware (ie the probes), which
will last for quite some time. It also in-
volves initial consultations to deter-
mine just where the probes should be
located and how the system should be
set up. There will also be mainte-
nance services provided from time to
time. The upshot, said Mr Koh, is that
one contract can easily run into the
millions.
The company plans to hire staff to
support its growth. The number of
staff it hires will depend on the devel-
opment of the business, said Mr Koh.
It is also in discussions with public
utilities companies in Europe, North
America and Asia. A number of these
companies have expressed interest in
the WaterWiSe Platform, said Mr
Iqbal.
Eventually, the company hopes to
rope in a venture capitalist (VC). The
issue isn’t primarily the need to ob-
tain funds, explained Mr Preis. In-
stead, VCs have huge networks of sup-
pliers and potential customers to tap
on, and this will take the company to
greater heights.
“This is the future of the industry,”
he said, referring to the WaterWiSe
Platform. Going by the interest some
VCs have already shown in the compa-
ny, one seems inclined to believe that
too.
The team behind start-up Visenti believes it has a sure winner in its hands, reports VICTOR KATHEYAS
YEN MENG JIIN
Managing water wisely: (From left) Mr Iqbal, Mr Preis and Mr Koh.
Visenti helps public utilities companies check on the pumps and pipes that
distribute water to consumers so that they can get the water in the most
cost-efficient and safe way possible
A passion for pumps and pipes
12 SME INC The Business Times, Tuesday, December 6, 2011