PHNOM PENH, June 26, 2023 – TapEffect, a startup providing clean and affordable tap water to last-mile communities in Cambodia received a new equity investment from Clarion Newlife Capital. The startup previously raised equity investment from Habitat for Humanity’s Shelter Venture Fund and World Hope International’s Social Venture fund.

 

Singapore-based Clarion NewLife Capital is a private social impact investment fund, investing in early to late-stage business enterprises primarily in the areas of education, agriculture, healthcare, and housing for the underserved in Asia.

 

TapEffect creates solutions that enable deployment and operation of piped water systems to bring clean tap water to last-mile communities. TapEffect designs, builds and operates these systems, utilizing IoT technology for remote monitoring. Each system can support over 10,000 people and also connects in the schools and healthcare centers within the supply area. TapEffect’s solution addresses the systemic barriers often faced by local water providers, such as high set-up costs and ongoing maintenance. The startup has been replicating this approach to new sites across Cambodia, bringing clean water to last-mile households and is now looking to expand into other countries.

 

Although the Sustainable Development Goals aims to achieve universal access to clean, safely managed water and sanitation by 2030, around 1 in 5 people lack essential access to clean water in Cambodia, and with handwashing and sanitation issues still prevalent. This issue is particularly acute in rural areas, where around 75% of the population live[1]. This results in a high rate of water-borne diseases, often causing lost school days and malnutrition among young children, and lost workdays for jobholders.

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Founded in 2019, TapEffect is a social enterprise that utilizes a market-based approach to deploy high quality piped water systems for clean tap water supply to rural communities. Families pay a fraction of the cost for water compared to bottled or trucked-in water options. The investment will drive TapEffect’s technology development to ensure efficient operations, and the scaling of piped water projects in Cambodia and across the Asia-Pacific region.