WSP USA welcomes two new early and growth stage start-ups to Cohort 2 of its Emerge innovation partnership program with a signing ceremony on May 6. The selected partner companies – Olokun Minerals and Upstream Tech – will work with subject matter experts in WSP’s Water National Business Line to refine, optimize and scale their offerings to address specific client needs in the drinking water, wastewater and surface water markets.
Bringing varied technologies and solutions, these companies represent the range of opportunities that exist to infuse innovation, conservation and sustainability into water infrastructure and resources improvements.
Olokun Minerals
Olokun Minerals extracts valuable metals and minerals from salty, mineral-rich wastewater streams and creates products that can be used in concrete to build infrastructure, fertilizers for agriculture, and batteries for electronics and vehicles.
“The Emerge Program allows Olokun Minerals the chance to further test our product offerings to show how well we can perform in the real world and get real-time feedback from world-class clients,” said Lacey Reddix, founder and CEO of Olokun Minerals.
Upstream Tech
Upstream Tech is a climate tech company that builds software products to accelerate the pace, scale and impact of conservation, restoration and a renewable grid. It’s HydroForecast technology combines the latest in machine learning with conceptual approaches to hydrologic modeling to predict streamflow volume accurately anywhere in the world.
“Upstream Tech is thrilled to be selected for WSP’s Emerge program,” said Marshall Moutenot, CEO of Upstream Tech. “We’re at an exciting inflection point growing HydroForecast, which delivers highly accurate streamflow forecasts to hydropower and utility customers around the world. We’re excited to tap into WSP’s deep expertise, insights and networks as we scale our business.”
Following the signing ceremony, Cohort 2 will kick-off its three-month pilot phase, which is critical to refine innovations for alignment with potential target client needs, and to provide insight into the market viability of the partnerships in the long term.