AquAffirm announces new NGO grant win to support major pilot project in Bangladesh

Dutch foundation Aqua for All agrees to support major pilot project to validate AquAffirm- As™ digital sensor, enabling real-time measurement & mapping of arsenic levels in drinking water across affected regions

Additional financial support from UNICEF and logistical support from DPHE and University of Dhaka

LONDON, UK – AquAffirm Ltd is pleased to announce that it has been successful in its bid for a significant grant that will support a new pilot study to validate AquAffirm’s proprietary digital sensor for arsenic in Bangladesh. The pilot project will assess results from the AquAffirm-As™ cloud- connected sensor, comparing with those from a standard laboratory method based on performance, usability, and cost. A key objective of the pilot programme is to generate interest within local industry and to raise political awareness of the issue that continues to affect millions across a large part of the country, resulting in tens-of-thousands of deaths each year.

The AquAffirm™ platform uses an innovative smartphone-enabled design that includes disposable test strips, mobile app and web-connected software platform developed by the AquAffirm team. In this pilot project the teams will evaluate the usability and performance of the AquAffirm-As™ test using water samples from 2000 tube wells in four arsenic-affected regions of the country.

The Dutch foundation Aqua for All will provide a non-dilutive grant of approximately €165,000 to AquAffirm to cover costs of manufacturing scale-up and project implementation, while international NGO UNICEF will contribute $20,000 to support project work being conducted by the Universuty of Dhaka as part of the pilot project. The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), the Bangladeshi agency government responsible for addressing the groundwater contamination across mainly rural parts of the country, will support the project with local knowledge, manpower and resources.

“We’re thrilled that Aqua for All has selected AquAffirm and this important pilot as one of the projects they intend to support over the coming year,” commented Dr David Sarphie, AquAffirm CEO. “We are confident that this pilot will provide AquAffirm the opportunity to demonstrate the performance and usability benefits of its system over incumbent technologies, and that this will lead to a number of orders from stakeholders tasked with addressing the arsenic crisis, not only in Bangladesh, but in other affected regions of the world, as well.”

Dr Sarphie thanked the entire AquAffirm team for the hard work that had made this grant win possible and concluded, “We are also grateful for the continued support of our investors, including two shareholders who recently agreed to increase their investments into AquAffirm to ensure we reached the partial matched funding threshold that AquAffirm was required to demonstrate.”

The project is scheduled to start in early May 2023.

About Arsenic

Arsenic affects over 140 million people in 70 countries, including an estimated 30-50 million in Bangladesh. Long-term exposure can lead to a variety of chronic health conditions, including skin disorders, cancers of the lung and bladder as well as cardiovascular issues, directly leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year.

About AquAffirm

AquAffirm develops proprietary digital tools/services to help clients from industry and the water sector reduce their environmental impact and improve sustainability. Specifically, AquAffirm is commercialising innovative digital smartphone-enabled point-of-use sensors and software platforms to help clients manage critical water infrastructure networks, control unwanted environmental contaminant release, and monitor/map environmental impact. As a service, AquAffirm also develops bespoke digital sensors specifically for its clients’ needs. AquAffirm’s long-term vision is to build a mobile-enabled network of sensors & software for water sustainability to include the most advanced digital water contaminant measurement platform for rapid measurement, monitoring and mapping of contaminants at the point- of-use.

Contact AquAffirm at: nanda.rahman@aquaffirm.com

+44 (0) 20 3095 7252

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