SIÉ WAKA · Water

SIÉ WAKA

Country: 🇨🇴 Colombia · BOGOTA Category: Water CT Taxonomy: CT-WW-003 — Watershed Conservation & Hydrological Data Impact Areas: Adaptation, Nature-Based Stage: Public Beta Team Size: 5.0 Website: https://siewakaplatform.streamlit.app/ Funded: True (29815.0)

Elevator Pitch

It is a decentralized, community-driven platform for water quality monitoring combining IoT sensors, open data, and citizen science. We empower communities and governments with real-time, evidence-based data to improve water governance and accountability.

Climate Problem

Water scarcity and contamination are worsening due to climate change, yet monitoring data in vulnerable communities is scarce, unreliable, and opaque. Without real-time data, communities and governments cannot make informed water management decisions.

Solution

Sié waka is a hybrid platform combining low-cost IoT sensors, a mobile app, and community protocols. Citizens collect and upload water quality data to a cloud dashboard, enabling real-time alerts, open data access, and accountability with authorities.

Revenue Model

Revenue streams include: (1) B2G/B2B consulting services (ESR, water governance, monitoring plans); (2) SaaS licensing of AquaCitizen to municipalities and utilities; (3) paid community training programs; (4) data services for research institutions.

Target Market

Primary: rural and peri-urban communities with limited water monitoring capacity in Latin America (Colombia, Mexico). Secondary: municipal governments, water utilities, NGOs, and research institutions requiring reliable, low-cost water quality data.

Social Impact

Indigenous Peoples, People Living in Extreme Poverty, Women

Demand Evidence

Validated through pilots in 4 cities (Bogotá, Cali, Villavicencio, Monterrey), 23 community activities, 250+ people engaged, and 100+ water samples collected. Governments and NGOs have expressed interest in our data. Three organizations have funded us.

Competitors

Global competitors include mWater and AquaHacking platforms. Locally, IDEAM (Colombia) and CONAGUA (Mexico) collect data but lack community-level reach. Our advantage: decentralized, low-cost, citizen-led model with open data and accountability tools.

Founder Expertise

Team includes a political scientist (smart cities), environmental engineer (MBA, HSEQ auditor), mechatronics engineer (nuclear applications), PhD environmental engineer (ITESM water researcher), and a biologist/aquaculture master (NGO director).

External Support

Funded by CIVICHOUSE (2022), Hackcorruption Colombia (2023), and Young Water Solutions (2024). Supported by Lab NL, Neotropical Cuencas, Alkali+SOSAC, TECHO Colombia, and Red Nacional de Jóvenes de Ambiente. Three funding rounds secured to date.

Team

Juan A. García: Strategy & government relations. Juan F. Pinto: Project manager & environmental engineering. David Gil: Hardware/IoT development. Dra. Thalía Turren: Scientific advisor & water research. Jhonatan Quiñones: Biodiversity & field operations.

Founder

JUAN FELIPE PINTO CASTELBLANCO