SeaChange Technologies

The fashion and apparel industry has been called the second dirtiest industry in the world, and is responsible for 17-20% of global industrial water pollution. Conventional wastewater treatment methods are expensive, complex, and create large volumes of toxic sludge, resulting in severe environmental degradation. 

SeaChange has developed a solution that can efficiently eliminate chemical discharge and effluent, reducing the impact of manufacturing on our planet. It is our vision to create a clean source of water for humanity by eliminating pollution at its source, starting with the dirtiest of industrial wastewaters. 

Current methods of wastewater treatment are unable to treat many of the complex dyes and chemicals used in the fashion industry, resulting in contamination of local resources through the leakage of dyes, chemicals, and microplastics, as well as massive carbon emissions.  Up to 20% of global industrial water pollution and 10% of global carbon impacts are attributed to the apparel industry (Quantis & ClimateWorks 2018). 

Modern wastewater treatment systems result in massive amounts of sludge, which is typically disposed of in landfills. This landfill disposal releases toxic byproducts and greenhouse gasses as the sludge is broken down. Currently there is no alternative to sludge disposal as no existing technology on the market can fully eliminate it.

Textile factories release large volumes of heavy metals, colors, and toxic chemicals into local water sources, reducing life expectancy, causing severe health problems, and destroying local ecosystems.  Textile and apparel factories are typically located in low income, high population, developing regions. The resulting pollution affects billions of lives directly through the health impacts of air and water contamination, as well as through a loss of resources and livelihoods through environmental degradation. 

The majority of textile manufacturing occurs in developing countries and areas where there is lower environmental fines and regulations, making apparel wastewater a global threat to public health. 

The effects of the industry are especially visible in China, where approximately 65% of the world’s clothing is manufactured. In China, an estimated 90% of groundwater is polluted, amounting to approximately 320 million people without access to clean drinking water. In this region, 75% of diseases as well as over 100,000 deaths are attributed to water pollution (China Water Risk, 2011). 

SeaChange is working with adidas, which has partnerships with fifty dyeing facilities in China (40% of adidas tier 2 suppliers), as well as Fashion for Good brand partners to pilot the SeaChange systems in Southeast Asia and develop a model to mitigate the effects of apparel manufacturing on the surrounding communities. The SeaChange process will eliminate sludge and chemical discharge, improving both air and water quality for people in manufacturing regions.

SeaChange has developed wastewater treatment systems that can evaporate effluent, safely oxidize toxic dyes and chemicals, and capture dissolved and suspended minerals in a single step process.  SeaChange has developed a compact, modular system with this technology that can operate as a standalone system, or integrate with existing wastewater treatment systems to reduce costs and improve environmental outcomes.  The SeaChange system eliminates wastewater from the manufacturing process while reducing the carbon footprint. 

SeaChange’s market entry strategy is to work with global fashion brands to deploy pilot trials of our water treatment systems at manufacturing sites.  These pilot trials are designed to assess the technical and economic feasibility of the SeaChange process within a manufacturers unique facility and environment, and generate detailed costing projections for full scale operation.  The pilot trial approach has allowed SeaChange to build relationships with brands and manufacturers, generate revenue, and develop field experience. SeaChange has completed paid pilot trials treating wastewater from denim finishing and from polyester dyeing.  The identities of the brands sponsoring these trials are confidential, but they are currently considering next steps.  

The global brands that we are working with (adidas, C&A, Bestseller, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Wrangler, and others) each use between 800-2000 unique manufacturing suppliers globally.  By working with brands to significantly reduce their chemical discharge KPI, SeaChange has a path to install systems at numerous manufacturing sites. The large numbers of suppliers provides a path to significantly reduce global chemical discharge and water pollution.  Collaborating with fashion brands this way also provides SeaChange the means to measure environmental impact across their global supply chain.  

Traditional wastewater treatment methods are complex, multistage systems, utilizing a combination of chemicals, membranes, filters, digesters, and other technologies to treat water to local effluent standards. This approach is expensive and ineffective, resulting in effluent and sludge byproducts and dependent on local regulations to ensure wastewater does not damage the surrounding ecosystems. SeaChange Technologies provides a new approach. The single step mechanical process requires no filters, membranes, or disposables, and completely eliminates wastewater. 

The global brands that we are working with each use between 800-2000 unique manufacturing suppliers globally.  By working with brands to provide a means to achieve significant chemical discharge KPI, SeaChange has a path to install systems at numerous manufacturing sites.  The large numbers of suppliers provide a means to significantly reduce global chemical discharge and water pollution. Collaborating with fashion brands this way also provides SeaChange the means to measure environmental impact across their global supply chain.  

Our innovation is not limited to technology; our business model entails reaching critical manufacturing customers through brand partnerships, resulting in greater visibility, market reach, and increased support and project funding. Additionally, our units will be leased rather than sold, decreasing the barriers to adopt our technology for manufacturers, resulting in rapid market entry and growth. This model encourages our brand partners to focus on sustainability as key to their brand’s image and increases visibility for the need to manufacture sustainably on a global scale.

Unlike any technology in market use today, SeaChange's water treatment technology (USPTO US20160151721A1) effectively treats water with high concentrations of suspended and dissolved solids, oil and grease, and volatile organics. The single step mechanical process mechanical process requires no filters, membranes, or disposables, and completely eliminates wastewater. The SeaChange process involves creating an aerosol, inducing evaporation as the aerosol is conveyed in an air flow, and separating particulate contaminants from the water vapor. The unique process enables treatment of 100% of incoming water without formation of a liquid waste concentrate. The process efficiently uses thermal energy to drive both evaporation of water and thermal oxidation of organics, essentially using hot air generated by a multi-fuel powered turbine. The result is a small volume of pure mineral powder (<95% by mass compared to original volume) which can be recycled or reused in other applications.

The textile industry has relied on traditional water treatment companies to help with their wastewater problem.  But systems designed for drinking water or sewage treatment are not well suited to high concentration industrial waste with chemically and biologically resistant dyes and chemicals. 

 SeaChange is working with many global apparel brands including adidas, Arvind, C&A, PVH (Calvin Klein), and Bestseller to complete multiple pilot studies to demonstrate the technical efficacy and financial viability of the SeaChange system. In these trials, we effectively treated our customer’s most concentrated waste streams resulting in clean water vapor and a powder of pure mineral solids. The data from these studies shows that we can process their most contaminated wastewater while reducing carbon footprint and reducing chemical discharge.

 Working with our industry advisors at Fashion for Good, we are developing a lease-type business model that allows manufacturers to save money immediately upon installation of SeaChange systems, while providing SeaChange continuous recurring revenue and ROI within one year.  Apparel brands are eager to clean up their image and their business; SeaChange offers them a way to provide the products people want, while supporting a healthy, clean, and profitable global manufacturing industry. 

Currently we are performing pilots with major global apparel brands and manufacturers across multiple countries in Asia, but have not yet implemented a commercial launch. 

In the next year we anticipate running our first small scale commercial production trial in Taiwan of a single SeaChange unit, resulting in our first large scale impact. This installation will have a net reduction in carbon emissions of approximately 5,000 tons over the next year while eliminating over 700 tons of textile sludge from landfill disposal. Due to the high population density and limited landmass in Taiwan, there is a large volume of people living next door to manufacturing facilities.  We anticipate this installation improving air and water quality for approximately five hundred thousand people. 

In five years we anticipate this impact to be far larger as we scale our business. The impact of this will be seen globally as carbon emissions affect our entire planet, and locally as water sources and air quality improves in areas with heavy manufacturing. We anticipate the effects of our process on the apparel industry to have an impact on the lives of over 20 million people by this time.

In the next year our goal is to scale our business to prepare for full commercial launch. In order to achieve this we have the following targets:

• Begin our first commercial production trial with a global apparel brand

• Develop a manufacturing partnership and train a service team

• Develop our business plan with a full sales and service model

• Expand relationships with apparel brands and suppliers 

• Design plans for scaled SeaChange system in order to meet higher volume requirements (100tons per day) and incorporate systems for water and energy recovery to reduce environmental impact and operational costs. 

Over the next five years our goal is to begin commercial launch in the apparel and textile industry. We will achieve this through partnerships with major apparel brands and have the following targets:

• Three full scale installations in new zero liquid discharge facilities

• Ten installations in existing dyehouses

• Total annual carbon reduction of over 1.5 million tons

• Total annual reduction in chemical discharge through the elimination of 250,000 tons of toxic sludge

As most apparel manufacturing occurs in low income, high population regions in the developing world, we anticipate that over 20 million people will benefit from access to cleaner water from these installations both directly in health impacts, as well as through improved crop growth and revival of aquatic life. 

Over the past four years SeaChange Technologies has grown from a novel idea to launching pilot studies across the United States and Asia with major global apparel brands. To date, we have been funded primarily through bootstrapping with founders funds. Over the next year as we transition to revenue stage and progress towards commercial launch our main barrier will be acquiring funding to supplement our revenue stream. 

Over the next five years, our barriers will be:

• Cultural: We will be operating primarily in developing countries where it may be challenging to communicate and navigate different business customs.

• Market: The apparel manufacturing industry is highly distributed and slow to implement new technologies.

•  Financial: We will need additional funding as we scale our team, manufacturing, and operations to grow our business.

Next Year

Financial: We are seeking grants and investment funding to provide funding for the following year’s operations.

Next Five Years

Cultural: To address any cultural barriers, we are collaborating with global brands and utilizing their networks and local staff to build relationships with manufacturers. Additionally, we will hire service teams and regional managers locally. SeaChange has hired an Operations Manager with extensive experience working and sourcing materials in various countries globally to facilitate our global relations. 

Market: In order to access the market, we intend to develop strategic partnerships with apparel brands which will provide us access to their manufacturing bases.  Currently we have piloted our technology with multiple major global apparel brands and are engaging in further discussions both with the brands and their respective suppliers. As part of this partnership, brands will incentivize manufacturers to adopt the SeaChange process, and will increase our visibility within the industry. In order to decrease barriers to install our systems, we will offer a leasing plan to manufacturers, reducing initial capital costs and providing servicing and repairs to all of our installations.

Financial: In order to fully scale to commercial capacity we will have a seed A fundraising round, raising sufficient investment to cover our initial commercial launch. Fashion for Good has provided a $50,000 investment for the purposes of fundraising this initial seed round.

Currently the SeaChange team is comprised of two full time staff, one adviser, and one intern. Ongoing support form NC IDEA Foundation and Fashion for Good. 

The team at SeaChange Technologies has a collective vision to eliminate wastewater and create a clean source of water for humanity. This drive has empowered and motivated our small team to identify the best markets and develop our technology to meet industry needs. We have extensive industrial R&D experience in developing innovative technologies from idea to execution, and have proven that our patented technology can eliminate industrial wastewater. Our founder, Dipak Mahato holds a PhD from NCSU and has 15+ years of experience in corporate R&D leadership with NIH, Embrex and Pfizer, developing biomedical devices for industrial livestock production.

• SeaChange Technologies is working with Fashion for Good, a non profit which works with brands, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable technologies and make the fashion industry sustainable. SeaChange is working closely with Fashion for Good as part of their Scaling Programme to develop and execute a “Roadmap to Scale”, including expanding our pilot program with Partner companies and preparing for scaling the company for commercial launch (building team, establishing manufacturing relationships, and financing and equity investment).  

• We are also working with NC Idea Foundation, a foundation which supports entrepreneurs with high growth entrepreneurial endeavors. After winning grant funding from them in 2015 and graduating from their accelerator program, SeaChange has continued to work with NC Idea and their network both as an advisor and resource for other entrepreneurs, as well as in seeking out connections and relationships. We have also taken on an MBA intern as part of NC Idea’s internship program. 

SeaChange has worked with MBA students at NCSU College of Textiles/Poole College of Management to validate the business case and financials of applying the SeaChange process in the fashion industry.  Our business case is initially focused on collaborating with fashion brands and manufacturers to deploy SeaChange water treatment systems to manufacturing sites in Southeast Asia and India. 

SeaChange’s business model is to place our water treatment systems as a service, charging an installation fee and recurring monthly fee.  The fee based approach allows manufacturing customers to save money immediately, while SeaChange generates recurring revenue and ROI within one year.  

Key Value Propositions:

1. Reducing costs of water treatment.  Pilot trials have confirmed technical and market research showing that the SeaChange process can address the most expensive aspects of industrial wastewater treatment. In our initial trial in Taiwan, we have found that sludge processing and disposal in Taiwan can cost over $400USD per ton. The SeaChange process eliminates/prevents the formation of sludge for a fraction of the cost, approximately $100USD per ton.  At a single moderate sized manufacturing site, this could result in savings of over $15,000 USD per month.  

2. Addressing corporate fashion brand sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for reducing chemical discharge.  While the unit economics for sustainability KPI are difficult to define, SeaChange is in discussion with fashion brands around ways to share the “sustainability brand value” of meeting chemical discharge KPI; these may include royalties, milestone payments, limited exclusivity, trading of carbon credits, or marketing. 

For the past 4 years, SeaChange has bootstrapped with founders funds and $90k in non-dilutive grants.  With funding from paid pilot trials and our first seed investment from the C&A Foundation, we anticipate that 2019 will be the first year where we will not require founders funds.  SeaChange is pursuing grants, strategic partnerships, and investment to fund research and product development prior to commercial launch. We are in discussions with several investment groups focused on fashion and clean tech.  

As we work closely with global fashion brands, we are exploring funding and partnership arrangements including licensing, and limited exclusivity to help finance our initial system placements.  SeaChange is in discussion with fashion brands around ways to share the “sustainability brand value” of meeting chemical discharge KPI; these may include royalties, milestone payments, limited exclusivity, trading of carbon credits, or marketing.  

In the longer term, SeaChange’s business model is to place our water treatment systems as a service, charging an installation fee and recurring monthly fee.  The fee based approach allows manufacturing customers to save money immediately, while SeaChange generates recurring revenue and ROI within one year. SeaChange will provide services and maintenance to ensure that the installed equipment is meeting expectations. 

We believe that Solve’s network of entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses, and partners can help SeaChange Technologies to reach our goals through:

• Providing avenues to increase our visibility 

• Potential for collaboration with other Solver teams and partners

• Access to funding and investors

• Mentorship and guidance from the Solve Team to help us reach full commercialization and make the largest impact possible

Our vision is to partner with fashion and apparel brands to reduce the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. Partnering with apparel brands would provide access to their and manufacturers and incentivize their suppliers to adopt the SeaChange system and decrease their environmental impact. By utilizing the visibility of major apparel brands we hope to drive the industry towards sustainable circular manufacturing. 

We would also like to partner with companies in other sectors such as oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and animal waste, which have complex wastewater problems. As SeaChange scales it is our vision to expand our impact beyond the apparel industry, and welcome opportunities to apply our technology to solve other wastewater problems. 

If our team is selected for the GM Prize on Circular Economy, we will use these funds for research and development of water, heat, and energy recovery additions to the SeaChange system. Incorporation of these systems will decrease the amount of groundwater withdrawal required by the manufacturing process and reduce the carbon footprint of our system itself.