Juncker Plan: water recirculating innovator Orbital Systems gets EU backing

Source: European Commission (EC) i, published on Monday, November 26 2018.
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    A loan of EUR 15 million will support Orbital Systems’s further development of water saving shower solutions for domestic use and scaling up production.
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    The project, supported with a guarantee under the Juncker Plan, will create new jobs in the EU during implementation, as well as after the project’s end.

The European Investment Bank has signed a EUR 15 million (SEK 154 million) loan agreement with Orbital Systems. The financing will be used to expand Orbital’s technology know-how, further industrialising and commercialising its products, as well as scaling up manufacturing processes. The loan is made possible through a guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, which was launched by the EIB Group and the European Commission to boost the competitiveness of the European economy.

Orbital Systems has developed a water saving solution for use in homes, vehicles and hotels, which can save up to 90% of water and 80% of the energy, compared to a conventional shower. Water that would normally go down the drain is cleaned and re-used in the same shower cycle. With this EIB financing Orbital Systems intends to take a further step in the commercialisation phase of its product and keep up its investment in researching the further possibilities of the patented technology.

European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen said: “Every drop of water is precious. Projects like Orbital’s don’t only bring innovative products onto the market or create jobs; they are also actively contributing to changing mentalities and behaviours, for the benefit of our planet. As such, I’m very glad that the Investment Plan can be part of this success story.”

EIB Vice-President Alexander Stubb commented: “Most people will think there is not much you can innovate on such a basic home appliance as a shower, so it’s great to see how Orbital shows us the exact opposite. Water is probably the most important resource we depend on, so it goes without saying that every effort to save as much of it as we can, is crucial. We’re more than happy to support this.”

Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, CEO of Orbital, added: We are very obliged with the support from the EU, it will make it possible for us to speed up our expansion in order to reach our vision to create a paradigm shift in daily water usage. With our technology you can have sustainability without compromising with comfort or design.”

Orbital Systems’s technology is based on sensors that analyse water quality up to 20 times per second and decide whether to recirculate the water or not. The recirculated water is purified by both a micron filter and a UV light to neutralise bacteria. A heater then compensates for the loss in temperature. Ccrucially, users also get a better shower experience with higher water flow and precise temperature, and are also able to collect water data through IoT.

Background Information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. The EIB is the only bank owned by and representing the interests of the European Union Member States. We work closely with other EU institutions to implement EU policy. In 2017 alone, the Bank made available nearly EUR 2.34 bln in loans for Swedish projects in various sectors, including research & development, industry, nearly-zero-energy-buildings and telecommunications.

Orbital Systems AB is a Swedish company founded in 2012 that has developed a water recycling technology for in domestic applications. The first application of such technology is a shower that achieves these results by recycling and re-using in a closed loop, part of the water used during a shower session. A joint academic project between Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, Orbital System’s CEO and Founder, and NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston influenced the early activities of the company, which is still inspired by the technology astronauts use when they are in space, where saving and recycling water is of major importance.

About The Investment Plan for Europe

The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the central pillar of the Juncker Plan. So far, the projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI are expected to mobilise over EUR 360 billion in investments and support around 850,000 SMEs across all 28 Member States. Find the latest EFSI figures by sector and by country here, or see the FAQs. Total financing under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in Sweden amounts to EUR 2.7 billion and is set to trigger EUR 10 billion in additional investments.