At a glance
- Atera Water demonstrated its approach during the pilot programme with water filtration technologies for regions affected by water scarcity or contaminated drinking water.
- Porsche has supported the start‑up in advancing its next scaling steps as it focuses on expanding into new potential markets.
- As a partner to society, Porsche strengthens innovations with local impact and global societal relevance.
With the “Start‑up Your Dream” initiative, Porsche is strengthening its social engagement. In the 2025 pilot year, the company supported a young start-up in identifying solutions to major societal challenges. The dedicated entrepreneurship programme brings together the pillars of education, networking, mentoring and financing, offering tailored support to early‑stage founders. The first wave of the pilot programme was successfully completed with Atera Water, a start-up from Singapore.
Founded in 2022, the start-up develops water filtration technologies designed to provide access to clean drinking water for communities affected by scarcity or contamination. Atera Water exemplifies the ambition of “Start‑up Your Dream” to foster innovation with immediate local impact and global societal relevance.
The programme began for founders Kee Tai and Dr. Adrian Yeo at Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Through exchanges with members of the Executive Board, technical experts and the Porsche Sustainability Council, the founders received valuable strategic insights. This was followed by participation in the week‑long Ignite Programme at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, focused on building practical entrepreneurial capabilities.
On site in Singapore, Atera Water completed an intensive training week with Plug and Play, Porsche’s programme partner, working on key development areas as well as essential steps to further optimise its business strategy. Site visits to a pilot water treatment facility in Johor, to Nanyang Technological University – the start-up’s development partner – and to Porsche Asia Pacific provided further insights and constructive feedback. In addition, the founders participated in the “Everything About Water Expo” in New Delhi and received expert mentoring and targeted business development support.
At the programme’s closing session, Atera Water showcased the progress achieved – with strong results: Porsche supported the next scaling steps and contributed to the start‑up securing additional capital from external investors in a financing round to expand its business. The programme therefore marks an important milestone for the founders. In 2026, Atera Water will prepare its transition into commercial operations, focusing on expanding into new potential markets. The company’s filtration systems will initially be deployed more widely in water‑intensive manufacturing industries and commercial real estate. These projects are commercially driven while creating social and environmental value by reducing freshwater demand, enabling water reuse and strengthening local water resilience.
With “Start‑up Your Dream,” Porsche creates clear added value: as a partner to society, the company aligns its social engagement in a focused and impact‑driven manner. Porsche provides targeted support where it can achieve the greatest leverage. The programme demonstrates how social impact can be shaped sustainably through a focused and efficient use of resources.
“Start‑up Your Dream” concludes on a strong note. Porsche will continue to closely accompany Atera Water’s further development and the impact it generates, providing support where needed.
Porsche: Partner to Society
“Partner to Society” is a strategy field in sustainability at Porsche. With various initiatives, donations and CSR activities, the sports car manufacturer aims to assist regions around the world in preserving the environment, guaranteeing good working and living conditions and strengthening social cohesion. Under the motto “Creating Chances”, Porsche is particularly committed to self-help projects designed to empower people in their living and working environment – and to help make their very personal dreams come true.
About Atera Water
Atera Water is developing water filtration technology designed to make clean drinking water available even in regions where water is scarce or polluted – with minimal use of chemicals. The start-up combines scientific excellence with practical use and sees itself as a partner to help solve global water problems. Atera Water combines innovation from membrane research with applied engineering to bring a cost effective and energy efficient filtration system to market maturity. Initial pilot deployments have shown promising results.
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