It’s probably safe to say that Sutru is the very first pool product to be presented at the SXSW Eco Startup Showcase. This is the tech-focused branch of the South by Southwest series of conferences and festivals that occur each year in Austin. It’s very, very hip.
Now in its fifth year, the event spotlights cutting edge, early-stage companies across several categories.
Sutro’s co-founder and CEO, Ravi Kurani will be among 46 finalists, selected out of a pool of more than 240 applicants, to present at the conference. The Sutro team will pitch their water-monitoring sensor in front of a live audience and panel of judges from top venture capital firms and corporations.
In the past four years, participating companies have gone on to raise more than $70 million, acquire global brands as clients, and develop other significant business relationships, a press release states.
In other Sutro news, the San Francisco company partnered with Orange Silicon Valley, a telecommunications operator, to develop a prototype of its water monitor that uses long rang (LoRa) wireless connectivity. LoRa is an emerging technology similar to WiFi, only dedicated to wireless, battery-operated things. Essentially, LoRa will be to Internet of Things (IoT) devices what WiFi is to laptops and tablets. It’s said to use less power than cellular or WiFi connectivity.
