Northern Ireland water saving start-up raises over £350,000 in second seed capital funding round

Wizso, the water saving start-up founded in Northern Ireland, has raised over £350,000 in funding, building on an earlier fund-raise in 2021.

The funds will enable Wizso, based in Belfast, to develop its product offering and further target environment-conscious consumers and enterprises.

Wizso tablets mask the colour and odour of urine, removing the need to flush when you pee and thus saving water, carbon emissions and money.

Wizso, the water saving start-up founded in Northern Ireland, has raised over £350,000 in funding. Pictured is Mark Gilligan, director and co-founder of Wizso

Each time we flush the toilet we waste more than 7.5 litres of water, an issue which Wizso seeks to fix. Using Wizso instead of flushing when you pee has the potential to save users over 19,000 litres of water per person, per year.

Given that all major companies now have ESG obligations, Wizso is an easy and measurable way for companies to save water and money. Wizso is also a means for organisations to reduce their carbon emissions, as water production and wastewater treatment are carbon intensive processes.

The Phase II Seed Capital funding will be used to carry out a soft commercial launch of the product and further develop a new dispenser which minimises the contact a consumer will have with the tablets. The funding will also be used to develop new colour and fragrance variants of the tablet. In addition, development work is underway on adding a biological enzyme to treat urea which will also help to reduce odour.

Over the past four years Wizso has continued to grow and now aspires to capture 5% of UK water users over the next five years and achieve £100m in sales across UK and global markets.

Mark Gilligan, director and co-founder of Wizso, said: “Since the development of Wizso we have been lucky enough to carry out trials in partnership with UK water companies and others and have accrued investment from a number of individuals.

“This Phase II investment of more than £350,000 is the beginning of a new stage in the Wizso journey as we grow our presence in the UK market and begin to expand globally.

“In addition, we were recently awarded a £71,000 research grant from the Market Improvement Fund run by MOSL, the market operator for the non-household water market in England. The research project is in partnership with Southern Water.’’

Scott Christie, newly appointed non-executive chair at Wizso, added: “The potential for growth in both the UK and global markets is a huge opportunity for Wizso as many of the population are experiencing increasing water shortages and high costs of water bills during a cost-of-living crisis.

“With a five year plan in place I hope to see Wizso find its place in both the non-household and household markets and help reduce the consumption of water to more sustainable levels.

In April, Scott Christie was appointed the non-executive chairman to the Wizso board of directors. Scott brings to Wizso a wealth of industry experience working in executive and non-executive director roles across the healthcare, leisure, spirits and energy sectors.