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TACount wins water technology competition

Dec. 20, 2012, Tel Aviv – TACount was named the grand prize winner of
the Water Export Technology (W.E.T.) Revolution Competition during a
sold-out, live-judging event on Dec. 18 with more than 150 executives
participating.

Dec. 20, 2012, Tel Aviv – TACount was named the grand prize winner of the Water Export Technology (W.E.T.) Revolution Competition during a sold-out, live-judging event on Dec. 18 with more than 150 executives participating. The event was sponsored by a delegation of industry executives known as the Massachusetts Water Industry Mission to Israel.

TACount provides real-time microbiology solutions for the water, food and beverage, electronics, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, and its proprietary technologies for bacteria detection, identification and counting enable it to deliver results in minutes rather than days or weeks.

A total of 32 companies applied to enter the competition, and the field was narrowed down earlier to six finalists and seven semi-finalists. The competition featured rapid presentations by all the finalists, including Atlantium Technologies, Blue I Water Technologies, Curapipe, Emefcy, Peak-Dynamics, and TACount. An expert panel of judges quizzed each of the finalists about its business proposition, and selected the ultimate winner.

“The creativity and breadth of Israeli solutions to address serious
water issues is world-class. The judges and audience gained new
appreciation for Israel’s successes locally and opportunity globally by
taking part in this competition,” explained Earl Jones, partners in
Liberation Capital, a project finance and private equity firm that funds
water technology companies.

Seven other companies were recognized as the competition’s semi-finalists: Advanced Mem-Tech, AMS Technologies, Filtoflex, HydroSpin, IOSight, NanoSpun Technologies and nLeak Technologies. From among the semi-finalists, Hydrospin also earned the distinction of being named a “Top Prospect,” which the judges deemed best positioned among the semi-finalists to move to the world stage soon.

As the winner of the W.E.T. Revolution Competition, TACount will enjoy a prize package that includes airfare and five days’ hotel accommodations for the company’s CEO to visit Massachusetts in the spring of 2013. While there, the CEO will be introduced to potential channel partners, customers, investors, government officials, and business partners who can help the company make Massachusetts its home-away-from-home as it enters the U.S. market and leverages the state’s water industry cluster for global market access. Additional prizes for the winner and/or finalists include free office space at MassChallenge, free legal services from Goodwin Procter LLP and GKH Law Offices, and reduced rate executive search from Green Search Partner.

The competition event also included company exhibits, opportunities for networking, and guest speakers including Orna Berry, corporate vice-president and general manager of EMC Israel, and Avi Hasson, chief scientist of the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade, & Labor.
  
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Israeli Office of Chief Scientist together announced the second round of the “Massachusetts-Israel Innovation Partnership.” This unique program encourages companies from both geographies to work cooperatively on R&D projects. Supported by commercialization grants from both organizations, the agreement is focused on water technology innovation.