An inventive idea to harvest drinking water from air: The NovNat Tech story

NovNat Tech is a start-up which aims to bring an inventive solution to water poverty. The company joined the university's Elevate incubator programme in September, they have also been accepted on to the Santander X UK Awards 2022 programme.

Founder, Abdulbari Belouafi (MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering) spoke to B-Enterprising about the company's progress. NovNat Tech have invented a new porous material to help harvest water from the air and have an exciting solution to a growing global problem.

Abdulbari: 1 million people die every year from water stress and pollution, we aim to provide clean water for humanity through harvesting water from air and water desalination.

Air conditioners are expected to triple by 2050. The surge will multiply what is already a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Air conditioning is currently responsible for almost 20 percent of electricity use in buildings around the world.

We believe that staying cool shouldn’t ruin the environment. We are developing a new class of affordable, energy-efficient, sustainable cooling systems using our metal organic framework (MOF) material. 

We have done the first and second cooling system generations and the first generation of the water harvesting system from air using our superior porous material.

By being part of UoB Elevate, we expect that we will be exposed to an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship that will take our business to a high level of maturity. 

Our products in the first year of our start-up include; Auto-filling portable water bottles for UK Army and arid area - and also a Water Harvester unit for household application. Our products in the second year will include, Desalination and cooling system and a Cooling production system.

NovNat are one of two University of Birmingham businesses who have been selected to join the Santander X UK Awards cohort for 2022 in partnership with Enterprise Nation. 

NovNat Tech and fellow UoB Elevate business TryMaze will take part in an intensive training programme throughout October and November. This will be followed by a two day pitching event in London with the chance to win a share of £150,000 equity free funding. The programme supports businesses in two main categories - Launch (for new businesses) and Accelerate (for growing businesses) with top prizes of £15,000 and £20,000 respectively.

What's next for NovNat:

We are looking for investors from industry and UK innovation funds. This range of this budget is based on the products that we are going to finalise for commercial use. 

We have three products (heat pump cooling system, water harvesting for household application, and auto-filling portable bottle) using our invented technology. 

If you would like to learn more, you can contact NovNat Tech by email at info@novnat.co.uk 

With thanks to Adbulbari Belouafi.
Added by Bob Lee

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