U-M student-run Wello invents a better water carrier for developing countries

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 | Source: Concentrate

Blood, sweat and tears have gone into the development of Wello, an Ann Arbor-based start-up led by University of Michigan students. Well, at least a good bit of sweat.

Cynthia Koenig, an MBA student and founder of Wello, has lived in Central America and Southeast Asia and found one common characteristic in all those third world countries -- she had to carry her own water long distances on a daily basis. It didn't take long for inspiration to hit Koenig.

"It's not easy, it's time consuming (2-4 hours a day) and I'm not very good at it," Koenig says. "It's such a huge burden, especially on girls."

Which leads us to the WaterWheel, a 20-gallon drum that easily transports four to five times the amount possible using traditional methods of water collection. The three-person team behind Wello developed the WaterWheel and plans to sell 5,000 of them in India starting this summer, which should help bring water to 40,000 people.

"There is a lot of opportunity for social entrepreneurship in India," Koenig says. She points out that even though India is a developing country it still has the infrastructure and entrepreneurial freedom to make Wello successful.

Wello also received a $10,000 global health prize and People's Choice Award in the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business to help further this project. Koenig expects to expand the team to 12 people by this summer as they ramp up production and begin distribution.

Source: Cynthia Koenig, founder of Wello
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.