To commemorate their 10th year anniversary, Värde Partners wanted to use the occasion to give back to the local community through a skills-based volunteering event. Empact designed one that allowed employees of Värde Partners to engage with their different skills that could benefit a social enterprise.
Background
Established in 2014, WateROAM is a social enterprise that designs and produces simple, portable, durable and affordable water filtration systems, enabling populations affected by natural disasters to convert unsafe water into potable water within mere minutes. They have supplied clean drinking water to more than 88,000 people in rural villages and disaster-struck zones across South-east Asia.
Lim Chong Tee, Chief Marketing Officer of WateROAM, explaining how their lightweight and portable ROAMfilter Plus provides safe drinking water immediately.
Four challenge statements were presented for Värde’s volunteers to solve and provide solutions:
1. Review the current pitching deck and refine the fundraising narrative
2. Review and further develop the fundraising strategy (what to raise, who to target, action plan)
3. Review business model options for the SmartTAP Micro Treatment Plant
4. Review and comment on current financial model of SmartTAP Micro
Outcome
Group 2 of Värde’s volunteers listening to David Pong, CEO of WateROAM, on the challenges the enterprise was facing in distribution of their water filtration systems.
The four groups of Värde’s volunteers totalling 24, spent time discussing and speaking with David Pong, CEO of WateROAM, to come up with feasible solutions. In the end of the half-day session, WaterROAM had their pitch deck reviewed and proposed a pitch outline to improve their pitch. The team also came up with key frames of consideration to evaluate different business models based on scalability, distribution channels and funding sources.
The founders of WateROAM, Chong Tee, David and Vincent with George Hicks, founder of Värde Partners.
It was great that Värde’s volunteers came from different backgrounds, thus offering perspectives from various angles. The session also helped us to have a clearer picture on what to look out for the investment round, be it in the area of pitching or financial modelling. – David Pong, CEO of WateROAM
