AUTARCON

What AUTARCON does

AUTARCON GmbH is a privately held German engineering company, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Kassel, that designs and sells the SuMeWa|SYSTEM — a modular, solar-powered, energy-autonomous platform for decentralized drinking water treatment in off-grid and rural settings. The platform combines media filtration with inline electrolytic disinfection and is offered in configurable variants (SAFE, IRON, ARSENIC via SolArEx, TURB, ADVANCED, COMPLETE, and the larger ONSITE up to 50,000 L/day), with an optional prepaid water ATM module that reduces non-revenue water below 2%. The company serves hospitals, universities, NGOs, and remote communities across more than 15 developing countries including Egypt, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, Laos, The Gambia, Pakistan, and Brazil, with anchor partnerships such as RISE in Egypt and GIZ in Laos. Revenue is generated through direct enterprise sales of hardware systems and accompanying project services (planning, installation, training, remote monitoring), while R&D and selected deployments are co-funded by BMBF and the EU Horizon 2020 programs (INCOVER, AquaNES, UFCl2).

Name

AUTARCON

Legal name

AUTARCON GmbH

Website

https://autarcon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Short description

AUTARCON GmbH builds modular, solar-powered SuMeWa|SYSTEM water treatment units for off-grid hospitals, universities, NGOs, and rural communities across 15+ developing countries, selling hardware and project services directly.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Water Treatment Systems

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131)

SIC

Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Filtration (Rapid/Slow Sand, Media, Membrane Pretreatment) (EUANABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adsorption & Taste/Odor Control (GAC/PAC, Air Stripping) (EUANABAF), Water Treatment Adsorbents (GAC/PAC/Media) (IMAEAIAK), Water Resources, WASH & Integrated Water Management (BPADALAH)

Keywords

• Decentralized water treatment
• Solar water purification
• Off-grid water supply
• Arsenic removal systems
• Drinking water treatment

Headquarters

HQ city

Kassel

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Water Treatment Systems Sales: Sale of SuMeWa|SYSTEM units including various configurations (SAFE, IRON, ARSENIC, TURB, ADVANCED, COMPLETE) for decentralized water treatment applications. Systems are sold directly to institutional clients, NGOs, and government agencies.
2. Project Services: Comprehensive project services including customized planning, installation support, user training, and ongoing technical support for SuMeWa|SYSTEM installations worldwide.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

AUTARCON develops and sells the SuMeWa|SYSTEM, a modular, solar-powered decentralized water treatment and supply platform that operates energy-autonomously for off-grid communities in developing regions. The core offering combines media filtration with inline electrolytic induced water disinfection to address multiple water contamination issues including pathogen disinfection, arsenic removal (via SolArEx), iron removal, and turbidity reduction, with supporting project services including planning, installation, training, and remote monitoring.

Product overview

AUTARCON offers the SuMeWa|SYSTEM, a modular solar-powered water treatment platform designed for decentralized, energy-autonomous drinking water supply in off-grid developing regions. The core SuMeWa|SYSTEM supports multiple specialized treatment modules including SuMeWa|SAFE (disinfection/pathogen removal up to 50,000 L/day), SuMeWa|IRON (iron removal), SuMeWa|ARSENIC (arsenic removal via SolArEx technology), and SuMeWa|TURB (turbidity removal). Different system configurations (SuMeWa|ADVANCED, SuMeWa|COMPLETE) provide varying capacity levels up to 20,000 liters per day. The Prepaid Water Taps add-on enables pay-per-use water distribution through water ATMs, reducing non-revenue water loss.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SuMeWa|SYSTEM: Main product brand for decentralized, energetically self-sufficient drinking water treatment and supply systems.
• SuMeWa|IRON
• SuMeWa|SAFE
• SuMeWa|TURB
• SuMeWa|ARSENIC
• SuMeWa|ADVANCED
• SuMeWa|COMPLETE
• SuMeWa|ONSITE

Products and services

• SuMeWa|SYSTEM Modular, solar-powered decentralized water treatment system (Sun Meets Water) designed for off-grid communities in developing regions. The platform treats contaminated water sources including surface water, groundwater, and riverbank filtrate to produce safe drinking water without grid electricity dependency.
• SuMeWa|ONSITE On-site water disinfection system for large-scale deployments, capable of treating up to 50,000 liters per day. Deployed in Tanzania for hospital and community water supply with prepaid water ATM distribution.
• SuMeWa|SAFE Water treatment configuration focused on disinfection and pathogen removal, providing safe water for hospitals and communities. Designed for healthcare facilities requiring pathogen-free water with capacity to disinfect up to 50,000 liters per day.
• SuMeWa|IRON Water treatment module specifically designed for iron removal from groundwater, with multiple units deployed in Egypt operating continuously with RISE as a key partnership success story.
• SuMeWa|ARSENIC (SolArEx) Solar-driven arsenic removal module (SolArEx) that oxidizes arsenic species via anodic oxidation and removes them through adsorption and physical filtration for groundwater contaminated with arsenic, designed for rural developing regions.
• SuMeWa|TURB

Quantifiable outcome

• 19 stations operating continuously in Egypt for iron removal
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2013Pilot project collaboration in Laos with GIZ to supply rural areas with safe water. AUTARCON installed first solar-powered SuMeWa|SYSTEM in remote Muang Xon village, developing adapted business models for long-term operation and maintenance.
• RISE (Egypt)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContinued success story with RISE for 19 iron removal stations operating in Egypt. Ongoing collaboration for decentralized water treatment projects.
• HTW Dresden (HTWD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity collaboration for water treatment research. Joint study with Taita Taveta University revealed pathogenic contamination, leading to SuMeWa| installation.
• Taita Taveta UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst SuMeWa|SYSTEM installation in Kenya at university campus to serve with safe drinking water through drinking water taps. Station can be used for university teaching curriculum.
• Fraunhofer IWESmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Gambia project for REMIS Health Centre water supply. Fraunhofer IWES provided support for project success.
• Malteser InternationalmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPakistan emergency water supply project for dispensary. System kept in stock ready for new emergency deployment.
• Engineers without Borders (Ingenieure ohne Grenzen)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupport for Engineers without Borders project in Cameroon for decentralized water solutions.
• BetterplaceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDonation platform for Tanzania project at St. Joseph Hospital Moshi, enabling funding for safe water system.
• GPERS (Universidade Federal de Rondônia)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for Amazonia project in RESEX Rio Ouro Preto, Brazil. University provides ongoing monitoring and project support.
• REMIS Health Centre Köln Darsilami Gambia e.V.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGO partner for health centre water supply project in The Gambia. NGO provided relentless support enabling project success.
• Kleine Hilfe Deggendorf e.V.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumanitarian partnership for Nepal earthquake response. Five AUTARCON units installed for long-term safe water supply.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WaterAid: Major international NGO focused on safe water and sanitation in developing countries. Comparable because both target the same end-user population (off-grid communities in Africa and South Asia) with safe-water delivery, although WaterAid works primarily through advocacy and partner-led programs rather than proprietary hardware.
• Xylem: Global water technology company offering pumps, treatment systems, and smart water infrastructure. Comparable as a broad incumbent in water treatment that competes for utility and municipal contracts in the same broad water sector and has initiatives in emerging-market water access.
• Pentair: Global water treatment and flow control company with residential, commercial, and industrial filtration products. Comparable as an incumbent water treatment manufacturer competing in the same broad sector and occasionally in decentralized and humanitarian water applications.
• Veolia Water Technologies: One of the largest global water services and technology providers, operating water treatment plants worldwide. Comparable as a broad incumbent in potable water treatment that competes in adjacent market segments and is increasingly active in decentralized and resource-recovery applications.

Direct peers

• Vestergaard (LifeStraw): Manufacturer of LifeStraw household and community water filters widely deployed in developing regions. Directly comparable because both supply point-of-use and small-community safe-water hardware to NGOs, governments, and aid agencies across Africa and South Asia, with similar go-to-market and end-user value proposition.
• Water Mission International: Non-profit organization designing and deploying decentralized safe-water solutions in developing countries. Comparable because both organizations build and operate community-scale water treatment systems in off-grid settings, with overlapping institutional donor base and similar field-deployment model.
• Drinkwell: India-based company operating community water ATMs for safe drinking water in rural and peri-urban areas. Directly comparable to AUTARCON's prepaid water tap offering and India operations, both targeting affordable, recurring-payment safe water distribution in underserved Indian communities.

Others

• Skat Consulting (SKAT): Swiss consulting firm implementing water and sanitation projects in developing countries through SDC and donor-funded programs. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem participant that influences procurement of decentralized water hardware in the same donor-funded market segments AUTARCON serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/autarconotter/photos/?tab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/autarcon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AUTARCON