Openversum

Openversum

Openversum

Empowering local entrepreneurs with clean water tech to build climate-resilient, low-carbon businesses in underserved communities.

Zürich, Switzerland

CHE

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

In rural Colombia, people face two deeply connected challenges: lack of access to clean water and lack of access to dignified, stable work. Without reliable access to public water infrastructure, rural families rely on water trucks, wells, or rain. The water is often unsafe. As a result, children get sick, parents miss work, and families spend their savings on medicine or bottled water. Women and girls carry the heaviest burden—spending hours each day fetching, boiling, or managing water. Time that could be spent earning, learning, or leading is lost to basic survival. This daily reality systemically traps communities in a cycle of poverty. Globally, 4.4 billion people lack safely managed drinking water. 2 billion people work in informal, precarious jobs. And 80% of those without water access live in rural areas—precisely where infrastructure and job opportunities are the weakest. In these places, most people work long hours for less than the legal minimum wage. There’s no safety net. No formal path to stability. Water insecurity and underemployment feed into each other—reinforcing inequality, eroding dignity, and blocking any real chance at economic prosperity.

In rural Colombia, people face two deeply connected challenges: lack of access to clean water and lack of access to dignified, stable work. Without reliable access to public water infrastructure, rural families rely on water trucks, wells, or rain. The water is often unsafe. As a result, children get sick, parents miss work, and families spend their savings on medicine or bottled water. Women and girls carry the heaviest burden—spending hours each day fetching, boiling, or managing water. Time that could be spent earning, learning, or leading is lost to basic survival. This daily reality systemically traps communities in a cycle of poverty. Globally, 4.4 billion people lack safely managed drinking water. 2 billion people work in informal, precarious jobs. And 80% of those without water access live in rural areas—precisely where infrastructure and job opportunities are the weakest. In these places, most people work long hours for less than the legal minimum wage. There’s no safety net. No formal path to stability. Water insecurity and underemployment feed into each other—reinforcing inequality, eroding dignity, and creating the kind of everyday vulnerability that can escalate into instability. The need is urgent—and growing.

We serve two groups often excluded from economic growth and climate adaptation: rural families without safe water access, and women and youth with limited access to stable, dignified work. In the regions of Colombia where we operate, 81% of households consume water contaminated with fecal bacteria. Most families don’t treat it—boiling takes time and fuel, and bottled water is unaffordable. On average, they lose six workdays per year to waterborne illness, spend over 113,000 COP on treatment, and dedicate 22 days to managing water. Children miss school. The total cost exceeds 1 million COP annually—about a month’s income. Meanwhile, future Openversum entrepreneurs earn an average of 613,000 COP per month—less than 40% of Colombia’s minimum wage (1.62M COP). Many are unemployed or work informally, yet they show strong confidence in managing money, learning, and sharing water knowledge. Their top motivations? Safe water, income generation, and improving health in their communities. One mother shared: “I want to generate more income for my household and help my community have a better quality of life.” Our solution responds to these realities by providing clean water and a pathway to prosperity—built for and led by those who live the challenge every day.