SplashLink.com, an online ?one-stop shop? for the water industry, was recently launched as an online marketplace for posting and searching water-industry bids and RFPs, as well as grant and financing opportunities.
?We created SplashLink to serve the highly fragmented and increasingly stressed water industry,? says Ebie Holst, SplashLink founder and CEO. ?Whether dealing with algae, aging infrastructure, industrial water management or the need for water reuse and recycling to respond to drought conditions in California or Texas, the players in this industry need a better way to connect and find opportunities. SplashLink makes it easy.?
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Initially, SplashLink.com was by invitation only as the site ?soft launched? its services for three industry organizations including the Cleveland Water Alliance, the New England Water Innovation Network and the Smart Water Networks Forum out of the U.K.
?We?ve been approached by groups like these to explore offering our services to their members,? says Jason Wuliger, co-founder and vice president. ?We?ve been thrilled with their enthusiasm. We?re now open to the broader industry and excited to help more companies find the right bidding opportunities, and help get more projects off the ground by connecting players with available funding.?
SplashLink has realized some impressive milestones, not only in the launch of SplashLink.com, but in winning support from Northeast Ohio?s Innovation Fund. Dennis Cocco, co-director of the Innovation Fund and GLIDE, the technology incubator that administers the Fund, commented: ?SplashLink is the first of its kind in the water treatment and service industry. It has the potential to link buyers and suppliers from around the world on a unique software platform, and is led by a very talented and experienced team.? The Innovation Fund will be contributing up to $100,000 to SplashLink?s evolution.
The SplashLink team is relatively quiet about their plans for the future, even while hinting at more to come on the website. ?We?ve been mapping our evolution since the beginning, and the market will teach us as we go. That?s about all I can say without asking for your first-born child,? laughs Ebie. ?We?re excited with what we?ve built so far because it helps to solve a big problem in the industry, but we?re just getting started.?
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About SplashLink
SplashLink (SplashLink.com) is the first online marketplace to support an entire range of project, financing, and sourcing needs for the highly fragmented and increasingly stressed global water industry. Whether dealing with industrial process water, municipal infrastructure or drought adaptation, SplashLink enables water solution buyers and sellers a quick and easy ?one-stop shop? access to funding, collaboration and bidding opportunities. SplashLink accelerates response to local and global water challenges by connecting industry players and opportunities with this innovative platform like never before.
About the Innovation Fund
The Innovation Fund (www.innovationfundneohio.com), founded by the Lorain County Community College Foundation, is Northeast Ohio’s most active and successful early-stage fund. It awards technology-based startups up to $100,000 so they can validate their technologies and business concepts.
The Innovation Fund averages six funding awards each quarter and fills the capital needs of businesses at the earliest stage of development, before they can attract angel and venture capital funding. Innovation Fund awards are made with funds from the Ohio Third Frontier, which have been combined with matching support and contributions from the Innovation Fund partners. These partners include the University of Akron, the University of Akron Research Foundation, Cleveland State University, the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE), the Lorain County Community College Foundation, Stark State College, Youngstown State University, the Youngstown Business Incubator, and Northeast Ohio Medical University.
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