FieldFactors started off back in 2016 with a very bold idea to counter the increasing challenges we have with water. “Everyone looked at us and said, are you naive? Because, basically,we just looked outside, at how nature works,” FieldFactors founder Karina Peña describes.
“Our mission today is to restore the natural water cycle within cities. So, we see the city as a solution, and not just as the problem. We are increasingly seeing extremerain fall and longer periods of drought, causing us to struggle with flooding and extreme drought as well as related water shortages,” she explains.
“When we look at how nature works, which is actually very clever, rainwater would normally replenish groundwater levels. But because we have built big cities, without keeping in mind our water supply, the natural dynamics have been disrupted. I have always been passionate about water: how did we create our living environment around water? That relationship has increasingly been forgotten. If we continue to build our cities in the same way and see that it is not working, why not bring more natural systems back to the city?” Karina asks.
A better place
That is why they have developed a technology to collect and purify rainwater in urban areas that is able to collect it right where it falls. Karina: “So, we are talking about large volumes. We store the water deep in the ground, in a natural layer that exists deep in the soil, so that we can store it for a long time and recover it when needed.”
This approach solves two problems at once. “We avoid flooding, but we also create a water supply and thus alleviate the water shortage problem during drought,” she explains. “During dry periods, we can pump the water back for local applications, such as irrigation or watering sports fields, for cooling, and for industrial processesfor which we still use a lot of drinking water in the Netherlands. This allows us to save precious drinking water, because we can use stored rainwater instead.”
“Unfortunately, this is a global problem, to varying degrees in different areas which is becoming more urgent by the day,” Karina underscores the urgency of the challenge at hand. “A different model for water management in the city is needed. Our aim is to make water available, not only for current and future generations, but alsoto make cities and urban water management more sustainable. It feels good to contribute to making the world a better place in this way.”
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Hustle and bustle
FieldFactors participated in the BeStart program as part of the 2022 cohort. “For us, participating in BeStart was perfectly timed. You really have to put in the time, which may feel complicated, but in the end, it pays off to step out of the hustle and bustle of your business for a moment. For us, it was a great way to take a closer look at our business plan. It was a push to really work on our company strategy before diving into scaling our business,” she shares.
“The coaches were very practical and experienced. For us, it was the first step toward structuring our sales process and standardizing our overall processes. Until then, we had been doing a lot of things ad hoc, and BeStart gave us a lot of practical insights. We came from a technical innovation, but ultimately you have to be able to sell something. So, the whole setup of our commercial structure actually comes from BeStart and it’s more than proven its worth. We've really matured since then,” she adds.
Setting priorities
BeStart helped them to take the step towards scaling up meaningfully: “We brought focus and structure to the company. We also really learned to understand what suits your company at a given stage, what you need at that specific stage. That was really insightful for us. We learned to set priorities,” Karina specifies.
“And, maybe most importantly,” she adds, “I am someone who appreciates personal attention. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget that weare also human beings. That's why I really liked BeStart. There was warmth, and the personal connection in the ecosystem made it very enjoyable.”
