NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle, a partnership between Water Unite and Wellers Impact, is pleased to announce the closing of its first transaction, an investment into the Kenyan sanitation developer Sanivation Ltd (“Sanivation”).

The Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle, which has a planned capitalisation of US$ 100 million, invests into private sector water, sanitation and plastics pollution reduction SMEs globally. The fund uses a catalytic capital structure relying on Water Unite’s programme of micro-contributions from international retailers as its foundation while concurrently leveraging capital from the private sector.

This innovative structure is a creative way of enabling each dollar of funding to support more than one organisation, generating social and environmental impact multiple times. The first Investee, Sanivation, primarily works with public sector sanitation service providers in Kenya to convert faecal sludge into biomass briquettes that are sold as a replacement for firewood. Through this circular economy approach to sanitation, Sanivation has treated over 2,500 tonnes of sludge per year. Further, each Sanivation city-wide treatment facility will employ up to 50 people and offer a total carbon offset of 288,000 tonnes over ten years by reduced deforestation and carbon emissions from burning wood.

Andrew Foote, CEO & Co-Founder of Sanivation, commented ‘We’re excited to be partnering with Water Unite and Wellers Impact. Overall, we appreciate ambitious financiers that set a vision like ending water poverty by 2030. Together, it’s possible’

Neil Sandy, CEO of Wellers Impact and the Wellers Law Group, commented that ‘the partnership with Water Unite in the execution of the Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle has the potential to significantly accelerate the delivery of clean water, improved sanitation, and a circular economy for plastics, through the use of a blend of public and private capital (coupled with technical assistance) that has not been tested at scale.’

Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle is planning to continue to actively deploy funds to other impactful entities in the water, sanitation, and plastics recycling sectors.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.