FloWater Secures $15 Million To Combat Single-Use Plastic

FloWater, a company that sells and produces reusable water bottle refilling stations, has raised $15 million in its first major round of funding. The California-based company is on a mission to combat the prevalence of sugary drinks, single-use plastic, and the toxic byproducts that come from plastic water bottles.

The 8-year-old company was co-founded by Rich Razgaitis and Wyatt Taubman, and is a product of their passions for wellness combined with a desire to eliminate single use plastic. FloWater’s Refill Stations are essentially a reinterpretation of the conventional ‘watercooler’, with an upgraded purification system that filters tap water, and the added ‘one-touch’ convenience. The stations are made available to schools, offices, fitness centers, hotels and retailers.

FloWater’s stations can be found in all 50 US states, with its list of customers including some big names such as Google, Airbnb, Specialized Bikes, and Red Bull. Its Series B funding round was led by Bluewater, a Swedish company that makes and sells water purifiers, and brings them to a total of $22.7 million in funding.

According to TechCrunch, founder Wyatt Taubman started it all with a bank loan of $18,600 – using that to launch a pilot program and then stay afloat with $125,000 gathered from friends and family. Now, the company has announced that since it started in 2013, it has saved more than 100 million single-use plastic water bottles from making their way into the environment. That’s a huge impact. So, let’s all switch to refillable containers and join in the saving of our planet – shall we?