Source Global

History

2022: Bill Gates Foundation fundraising

On March 28, 2022, it became known that the Breakthrough Energy venture fund, founded by Bill Gates, invested in Source Global, a startup that creates hydropanels that make drinking water from the air.

Source Global uses hydropanels to produce clean water from atmospheric air. Hydropanels collect water vapor from air and concentrate it in a form that is about 10 thousand times higher than in the atmosphere. Using the heat of the sun, the system converts molecules into liquid water, which is collected in a tank inside the panel and then discharged as pure water.

Bill Gates invested in developer of technology that turns air into drinking water Source Global

CEO Cody Friesen Source Global invented the panels in 2014 at Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, where he is a faculty member. In 2015, he embodied his scientific developments in Source Global.

We take sunlight and air and can produce perfect drinking water almost anywhere on the planet, "said Friesen. - Thus, we take water, which historically was probably the biggest problem of humanity, and turn it into a renewable resource, which is ideally suitable almost everywhere.

With this technology, you can get impeccable drinking water in your house, in your school, in your community, which really corresponds to the 21st century, "Friesen added.

Source Global hydropanels are installed in 52 countries in 450 separate projects. In total, the company raised $150 million from investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures Bill Gates, BlackRock, Duke Energy and the Lightsmith Group.

Technology of this type is in great demand in countries such as India, where it is estimated that about 800,000 villages do not have a source of clean drinking water. Friesen cited data from the World Health Organization, according to which by 2025 "half of the world's population will live in areas with water scarcity."

According to Friesen, in developed countries there is also this need. In the United States, 1.5 million kilometers of lead pipes still lie in the ground, and about 750 water pipeline breakthroughs occur daily. Business opportunities, in his opinion, are huge.^[1]

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