TAKING THE LEAP TO CHILE and

STARTING SANIVATION

Andrew Foote andrew.foote@sanivation.com www.sanivation.com

Engineers Without Borders brought the team together

Chile Team Andrew Foote-Anthropology Emory ‘09, Environmental Engineering GT ‘11 Chris Quintero-Mechanical Engineering GT ‘12 Emily Woods-Mechanical Engineering GT Nick Vanvliet-Business Emory ‘09 Sean Kolk-International Affairs GT‘11

“There a lot of good social enterprise business plans, not many good businesses”

Gates Foundation

• New Toilets have to cost less than $.05 per use

• Initial latrine investments range from $20-$60 per household

This is the idea we started with. Costs: $300-$500 and is not affordable to people that really need it

Our challenge: How do we create a scalable business in sanitation?

Thought: Waste treatment in low-income countries is a big problem. The solar sanitation concept is unique and valuable if we can make it work

“Mission isn’t about a nice statement: it’s for decision-making, communication & planning”

A piece of paper on the wall in our 3 bedroom apartment. Yes we were a team of 5

Sh*t matters but you have to have market incentives to act and while you’re at it, be conscious about how you go about it, people matter

We received: •$40K no equity seed capital •1 year work visa •Office Space (click for video) •Government networks

•Funded by Chilean government to jumpstart entrepreneurship ecosystem in Chile •Want 1,000 teams by 2014 (click for video) •Participants:

•39% LATAM •28% US •33% Other •35 different countries

Sanivation was accepted in Start Up Chile in March and we were in Santiago, Chile July 2011-April 2012

•Program is mentored by Vivek Wadwa and Tina Seelig (click to hear their comments) •Gained respect from all over the world and Tech Crunch recently ranked Santiago as #12 for Tech Hubs

Some of my favorites out of 300 startups we worked with

……after Sanivation of course.

GT grads created an energy efficiency startup changing the way hotel management and guests think about and use energy within a hotel

Recent Harvard graduates created a mobile app that reward people for going to the gym, and have people who do not go to the gym as planned pay up

Older German chaps. Installing the largest PV plant in Chile.

“You can’t teach entrepreneurship, but you can learn it; learn it by doing and from others”

“Social entrepreneurs aren’t individual heroes; they build teams, create networks, mobilise movements”

Sanivation Technology • Solar concentrator that heats

biosolids to >70C at which point pathogens are inactivated.

• See video of our experiment here • Inexpensive <$300 per unit and one

unit can treat waste of 100 people • Modular and mobile to meet wide

variety of demands • Simple to make, easy to operate and

low maintenance

The Chilean Red Cross took us to one of the communities that was the hardest hit by the 2010 Tsunami/Earthquake

Lesson: 1. Fragmented systems often fail and sh*t goes everywhere. 2. Sanitation should be a holistic service. That way, if the customers are unhappy, the business loses revenue.

What we came up with?

• A holistic and affordable service model to a complex problem • Bringing toilets to people’s homes • Treating people as customers and being forced to meet demands

Serving will

include toilet

cleaning and waste

removal

Sanivation, a for profit enterprise, that transforms the toilet

from a waste collection unit to an asset collection unit

What’s the message?

You don’t need an MBA to be a social entrepreneur; you need a JFDI

Chatting with the community about the type of toilet they would want. We were hired by Un Techo Para Chile to build a toilet with a solar waste treatment unit Click here for a video of us building the toilet

So, what’s next

• Publishing pathogen inactivation results • Going to Kenya in August to do large scale pilot • Leveraging funding beforehand

– USAID DIV Proposal with WSUP selected for further review

– Proposal with German Aid Agency (GIZ) currently under review

– Applied for $500,000 under the Gates Foundation “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” with Emory and GT

– Applied to many competitions and social entrepreneurship incubators

Key Lesson: Social entrepreneurs are in demand. And, rightfully so.

Feel free to contact me to chat more about Sanivation, Start Up Chile, social entrepreneurship, or other wacky or not so wacky ideas. Thanks for caring, Andrew andrew.foote@sanivation.com