Liané Thompson on Her Water Tech Startup, Funding For Women Founders, and Having To Go Overseas to Find Support for Her Pilot Projects

Liane is the CEO of Aquai, which builds robotic fish-like platforms to protect waterways. A journalist by background, Liane met her partner and co-founder, Simeon Pieterkosky, while working on a story about him and his approach to using his knowledge in robotics and climate to build affordable systems for science and commercial use cases to protect waterways and the ocean.

Liane shares how her background managing a large division in television for the New York Times -as well as her communications skills as a journalist - prepared her to handle the business aspects of AquaAI while Simeon handles the technology. In this Extraordinary Conversation, Liane and DrCat talk about how critical branding, communication, and marketing are for any startup - including AquaAI's autonomous underwater vehicle company (building user-friendly technology and conveying its value in terms of both financial and environmental benefits).

This session also addresses the challenges faced by women in technical fields and the importance of working together as a team, and the difficulties of getting funding for water technologies, which are often overlooked in favor of carbon reduction solutions. Liane's water robotics company, which focuses on sustainable aquaculture, has grown through customer down payments and investments. Since they use live testing and have planned to adapt slowly to avoid environmental damage, finding clients who will support Pilot Projects is critical - and has led her to work primarily overseas rather than in the US.

Finally, we talk about the the challenges of securing investment for water technology start-ups in the gap between early-stage and growth, the benefits of Accelerator programs (like Silvia Mah's Stella Angel Fund) although she notes that accelerators are not always helpful for those with market penetration, and the need to recognize that the world is changing fast (not just in the U.S.).

Come be inspired by this successful startup whose star is still rising in the water technology space!