Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

Zuvo Water: Andy Butler, CEO

California uses approximately 22 percent of its energy to consume and move water, a constant reminder about the scarcity of clean drinking water for much of the world's population, and the 83 mil lion more people on earth each year means demand will only grow for this resource.

Serial entrepreneur Andy Butler and his 10-person team of focused Zuvo Water professionals plan to change the equation.

“We're raising the bar with our premium water filtration and purification devices and our mission of providing cost-affordable and sustainable access to clean water worldwide,” says Butler.

The company's name derived from the German Zum Wohl for “health and well-being,” a phrase that seems to fit the Mountain View, California, environment the start-up calls home.

“I've always been interested in this category, and although a certain degree of naiveté comes along with this interest, along with this naiveté also comes a certain open-mindedness,” he says.

“We're trying to address the world's needs for a great drinking water experience. That is radically different from a company that is only selling to upscale people who want to be more socially responsible by reducing their consumption of plastics and bottled water.”

How radical? It means offering a flexible filtration and purification platform for a wide spectrum of users, from the customer in China who wants a product that detects and removes benzene in drinking water to a U.S. buyer who wants great drinking water ...