120Water growth continues as investment supports mission
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe co-founder and chief executive officer of Zionsville-based 120Water says a growing federal regulatory environment is driving expansion of the company. Megan Glover says company’s digital platform helps utilities, schools and others comply with public health regulations, such as lead reduction. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year instituted the Lead and Copper Rule which limits the concentration of the heavy metals allowed in public drinking water systems and water delivery lines.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business of Health reporter Kylie Veleta, Glover said her customer base continues to grow.
“Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen a lot of change with regards to the regulatory landscape,” said Glover. “We were about 40 customers 24 months ago, and now we are eclipsing 400. And we are in 33 states. And that’s about 10 more than we were in again two years ago.”
The LCR requires water systems to produce a location-based inventory of all service line materials by October 2024.
“We actually didn’t ban lead until the late 80s from our plumbing material. There’s actually a lot of lead in the ground that needs to either get mitigated or get out entirely,” said Glover, who added the federal rule requires water systems to inventory their water lines and put a plan to place for removal of the aging pipes.
Glover says 120Water needed to ensure it had enough funding to continue acquiring new customers, but also serve them.
The company recently completed a $3 million investment round, led by Ohio-based managed care nonprofit CareSource, which has a major presence in Indiana. It invested $1 million in 120Water. The funding also included Elevate Ventures, Allos Ventures and other existing investors.
“This investment will be used to continue to hire water quality professionals to meet the needs of our customers,” said Glover. “It will also be used to invest in R&D and expand the functionality of our software platform, further supporting the water quality needs of utilities we serve.”
LISTEN: Glover says venture capitalists have pulled back on their investments this year, so she’s glad these investors realized the value of the water platform.
CareSource administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the U.S. The company says the investment was made through its Diversity & Social Impact Fund. Glover says CareSource has historically made investments in other efforts such as soil remediation and removal of lead paint in older houses to improve healthy living.
“Particularly in disadvantaged communities that tend to get lost behind with regards to the replacing of aging infrastructure and such,” said Glover. “We saw this as a perfectly aligned investment, not only to continue our work operationally, but also how do we expand their impact as we’re working in many of the same communities.”