Water Crisis: Investment Opportunities and Emerging Technologies April 17, 2008

Water scarcity. It's not just a pressing problem for western regions of the United States. This past year, Raleigh-Durham North Carolina and Atlanta faced critical shortages of drinking water. Scarcity is both a local and global issue, further impacted by climate change. Trouble is both within US and throughout Europe, new technology hasn't been added for decades to the aging and highly centralized, water infrastructure. The water industry has historically been one of the least competitive and least receptive to innovative processes and technologies. What's more, water investment has also lagged because VCs view sustainable technology as viable only when there's an obvious 30-50 percent advantage.
The sluggish landscape is likely to change based on the past two years of strong evidence. It indicates that growing levels of drinking water scarcity in reservoirs and aquifers is forcing cities, counties and countries to rethink policies and technology upgrades. Will a variety of innovative water technologies like new sensor technologies for monitoring water usage, reverse osmosis desalination systems, biotech for developing drought resistance crops and novel nano-scale materials for water remediation finally attract the attention they deserve in the market place?
Join us for a provocative panel discussion that examines these innovation and investment opportunities. Our experts will go deep into the challenges, technology, risks and opportunities for this critical area in both domestic and international markets.

Moderator: Laura Shenkar, The Artemis Project

Panelists:
Thomas Rooney, RCI
Steve Vassallo, Partner, Foundation Capital
Gayle Pergamit, Co-founder Biophiltre

$55 VC Taskforce members, $65 Affiliates, $87 General.

Official Website: http://www.vctaskforce.com