Team Sulis Shares India Pilot Progress and Finishes First Week at Hult Prize Accelerator Program on a Strong Note

Dear Honors College Family,

We, Team Sulis, are writing to express our immense gratitude for your support of our India Pilot Program and the development of our water sanitation solution. As we sit here in London at the Hult Prize Castle Accelerator, we have been reflecting on just how pivotal our experiences in India truly were to us as both a business and as a group of Rutgers students, faculty, and alumni. In addition to thanking you for believing in us and funding our travels, we wanted to update you on all we were able to accomplish through the pilot program and our progress thus far in the accelerator.

After landing safely in India on July 10th we immediately got to work. The Sulis Team met with faculty and students at the Indian School of Management & Entrepreneurship to discuss their current efforts and obstacles in water purification. Then, we hit the street to speak with vendors about the limitations of cleanliness when preparing street food. We had the honor of touring the Eureka Forbes water sanitation plant in order to better identify the flaws with reverse osmosis and begin building customer relationships. From our customer discovery interviews in the Govandi and Dadar slums of Mumbai, we validated that people in the lower class are willing, capable, and eager to purchase our device. The slums of Mumbai remain our initial target market, and we are currently training a sales team on-site to facilitate the rapid deployment of the Sulis technology. Next, our team flew to Gujarat where we worked with the talented and esteemed advisory board assembled through our partner Ganpat University, met with as many locals as possible, and tested water from a variety of sources. We learned that the need for clean water is much deeper than just drinking, as the majority of cases of disease stem from secondary water uses, such as bathing or washing clothes. We established research and development teams on-site to continue testing our prototypes and our research results were extremely positive in affirming our abilities to clean the water.

Looking back on the unbelievably impactful experience Team Sulis had during our India Pilot Program, we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such inspirational individuals through our collaborations, customer discovery, and product testing. From delivering a keynote address to 500 students at Ganpat University, to visiting a municipal water purification plant, to speaking to countless villagers, industry specialists, and manufacturers, we truly did make the most of every moment in Gujarat and Mumbai. Though the core Sulis team is now in London, the teams we have built in India will be continuing the ongoing execution of our pilot program on the ground and are assisting us in developing modifications to our device to best suit the needs of the market.

Currently, all four of us are working and living in the over 200-year-old Ashridge House in Berkhamsted, UK and have been learning about topics ranging from the agile mindset and design thinking to centered leadership and measuring impact. Getting acquainted with the other brilliant teams of entrepreneurs, mentors, and experts is helping Sulis better refine our vision, motivating us to build the most sustainable business possible, and reassuring us that social entrepreneurship is the best way to make an impact. We are also extremely excited to announce that we ended our first week as one of the Top 6 pitches out of all 40 teams. We want to dedicate this success to you for believing in us and our mission of helping people clean their own water.

Thank you again for your immense support and we hope these photos give you a sense of how much we were able to accomplish because of you!

Best Wishes,

Team Sulis

Sarah Pomeranz, Ari Mendelow, Anurag Modak, and Yuki Osumi