CommerceNet

A peek at investable tomorrow's human-technology interface, today.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Water For Life

It had not escaped my attention that there is a severe shortage of potable water everywhere I traveled. Even within Singapore, water supply is an issue.

On the other hand, water as a resource - suffers from the lack of affordable, simple, proven technology that allows it to be transformed from raw water to potable water in an instant. Here I was lucky enough to visit TK Cosmic Holdings Sdn Bhd in Ipoh, Malaysia whereby they concentrated their Research and Development in developing affordable and reliable 'safe water' and 'quality water' solutions for emerging countries. These solutions are also suitable for rural areas of developed countries where applicable.

The company had grown from being an OEM suppliers to others, into a full fledge entity with their own R&D and products development. The company is starting their own brand with market penetration into countries like Iran, Pakistan and even Singapore! Critical to their successful thinking is that they are focusing on the last mile. Yes, municipal water can be treated, but if the delivery channel is contaminated, it very often goes back to zero. Also, they pumped contaminated river water as well as contaminated ground water as their input source: all raw water transformed into WHO compliance potable water.

The market for the company can generally be segregated into 'Safe' water and 'Quality' water. In most country, 'Safe' water is all that matters. In this case, 'Safe' is defined as compliance with WHO standards. 'Quality' water is water that had been polished to the right ORP and pH level. The level of population growth in many developing countries are alarming. The need for potable clean water is growing at an unprecedented rate. Unless there is a change to human being's behaviour pattern and physiological structure: our demand for clean water is always there: this market is constantly relevant. It is a critical resources that is getting more and more scarce.

The whole world is indeed in a water crisis - and here, we have a bright company valued currently at only USD 2.3 million. This is a gem of investment, going for a song!