While we can live for weeks without food, we wouldn’t make it more than a few days without water. Enter the $280B+ bottled water market. Today we consume 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute, and 91% of these are not recycled. The process of producing bottled water requires around 6 times as much water per bottle as there is in the container, and the process releases 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, which is the equivalent emissions of 11.3 million cars driving for a full year based on a top down analysis. Several factors have influenced the increased demand for bottled water. Concerns over tap water quality, convenience, and aggressive marketing campaigns by beverage companies have all played a role in shaping consumer choices.
Investing in innovative startups that address critical societal challenges is at the core of Supply Change Capital’s mission. We are thrilled to announce our recent investment in Kadeya, a forward-thinking vending platform revolutionizing the way we consume beverages. Kadeya serves the myriad of consumer hydration needs with a much lower environmental footprint. Kadeya’s system relies on an advanced filtration process that protects against over 30 contaminants including bacteria, parasites, microplastics, lead, and mercury. They have created a digitally connected, closed loop beverage system that is automated and decentralized.
The Expanding Market Opportunity for Water
The surge in the consumption of bottled water in the United States began in the 1980s and gained momentum in the following decades. One key event that contributed to the growth of the bottled water industry was the introduction of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, which made packaging and transportation more convenient and cost-effective. However, the undeniable environmental harm caused by single-use plastic bottles necessitates a change, as 38 billion bottles go to U.S. landfills annually. Expecting consumers to completely relinquish the convenience and ease of single-use products is unrealistic. This is precisely where Kadeya shines and establishes its competitive edge.
The Unique Value Proposition of Kadeya
Kadeya provides on demand filtered and flavored water to today’s workforce via glass or stainless steel reusable bottles that can be returned at the end of the day on the worksite. Kadeya's closed-loop vending service provides an innovative solution that addresses several pain points associated with traditional water filtration services. Their automated system washes, sanitizes, inspects and refills bottles. It is also decentralized, allowing them to be nimble in building a network of these systems across diverse customer bases. Finally, their solution includes digitized tooling that enables users to drive health, performance, and ESG goals that matter to employers, consumers, and government.
Kadeya is hyper focused on the under-served $4B market of water at work for US industrial companies. By providing recyclable, non-porous material bottles and locally sourced water from grab-and-go vending stations, Kadeya offers a hassle-free and cost-effective hydration solution. Site managers benefit from reduced costs, overhead, and hydration risks, making Kadeya an attractive option for various establishments. They are already seeing their pilot customers convert to contract more Kadeya systems within months of initiating a contract.
By drinking water from a single Kadeya station instead of drinking PET bottled water for 1 year, customers could avoid around 74 kg of waste per year, equivalent to ~275 PET bottles, and the costs associated with waste collection. An independent analysis by Boundless Impact found that Kadeya’s bottles have the potential to be 77% lower in their GhG emissions compared to single-use PET bottles. In current estimates, Kadeya has the potential to reduce GhG emissions by more than 74 million MT of CO2 by 2050 displacing an equal amount of single-use bottles.
Policy Enablers for Sustainable Solutions
Consider a rapidly changing regulatory environment on the climate front: the SEC is expected to require publicly listed companies to adhere to strict ESG reporting standards, the EPA just released a draft national strategy on plastic pollution, and the UN is negotiating a global Plastic Pollution Treaty. In 2021 the EU issued restrictions on certain single-use plastics, the expectation being that all single-use plastics will be banned by 2030, including PET bottles. In the US, eight states passed laws banning bags and increasing taxes on single use bottles. Further, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requires employers to provide potable water. By providing reusable water bottles and eliminating the reliance on single-use containers, Kadeya aligns with the goals of these policies and contributes to a more sustainable future.
Sustainability and Social Impact
Boundless Impact Research & Analytics conducted a third-party review of Kadeya’s environmental performance and found that they deliver both economic and environmental savings on every bottle. Each bottle saves $1 and is 85% lower CO2. For every 100 bottles, Kadeya will initially save the CO2 equivalent of driving nearly 20 miles in a passenger car, and divert PET bottles from reaching the ocean. By drinking water from a Kadeya station instead of drinking PET bottled water for 1 year, customers could avoid the equivalent to 2,300 gallons of gasoline which is enough to drive 52,000 miles with an average passenger vehicle.
With their closed-loop vending service, Kadeya introduces a sustainable and convenient solution that meets the evolving needs of health-conscious individuals and aligns with environmental goals. We are excited to support their journey and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Team
Kadeya CEO & Founder Manuela Zoninsein is a serial climate tech founder and angel investor with deep experience selling complex B2B products globally, building software and data solutions with cross-functional teams, and mobilizing talented people around tough and visionary missions. Manuela holds an MBA degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MSc. from the University of Oxford, and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
She is supported by Bridget Nyland as the director of Growth, Raj Chauhan as CTO, Liz Linardos as COO/CFO, Cam Mastoras as Mechanical Engineer, and Denis Lussault as customer operations advisor.
Fun Fact
“Let’s start a chain reaction for good.” Manuela Zoninsein, CEO of Kadeya.
Kadeya’s name comes from the word “cadeia,” as in “supply chain,” in Portuguese, the founder and CEO’s native language. Since they’re disrupting unsustainable supply chains by building an interlinked circular network where materials are infinitely reused, the name resonated with the team.
Learn more at https://kadeya.com/