Wello

At Wello, we’ve always had our sights set on scale - how might we make WaterWheels as widely available as possible? Today, we’re thrilled to announce a partnership with Nilkamal Pvt. Ltd., one of Asia’s largest manufacturers and distributors of injection molded plastic furniture and other home goods.

Learn more at:

http://nextbillion.net/with-new-partner-wello-rolling-down-the-fastest-path-to-scale/

Wello and HDFC Bank's CSR have teamed up to deliver 2000+ WaterWheels in February 2016. The result? 12000+ people will benefit from reliable access to water!

Wello collaborated with HDFC's implementation partners to design a robust strategy to ensure the WaterWheels reach those that need them the most.

Thanks to HDFC Bank's CSR, 2000+ subsidised WaterWheels have already been delivered to some of the most arid regions of India. In addition, HDFC Bank's implementing partner NGOs will use new monitoring + evaluation tools to report on the impact of the WaterWheels.

As part of Wello’s culture when someone joins the Wello team they embark on a day long journey called the 20 Litres x 24 hours challenge. This is the story of Shruti’s journey as told by her.

Imagine this – you get back home after a long day’s work and see a massive wrapped box delivered for you outside your door. You are surprised, stunned even – who would send you a package, one that can’t even be easily carried, without any reason? Without any reason should have been my cue. I was first excited – I love getting presents, who doesn’t? And when they aren’t gifted to me by me, they are even better! However, this excitement turned into bewilderment and then shock very quickly sets in. The gift comes well wrapped, and then boxed. After I remove the initial wrapping paper, I find myself staring at a carton which reads “Fresh Pears” with an organic farms name plastered allover. I am now a little confused and a little excited – did someone go pear picking and decide to send me fruit? Excitedly, I open the final cover, and what I find inside is this

I haven’t seen one of these potable water containers since many years now. To receive it in the mail on a random Wednesday evening didn’t really add up. And then I read the note it came with – I was being welcomed in to the Wello family with this gift! All I had to do was see how far I could take 20L of water (the amount this can hold!).

After much deliberation, I decide to start this task on Monday, a day I am working from home on, and therefore will be the truest reflection of my water usage. I decide to start the task at 12:00am on Monday. As I embark on this journey, I am a little scared of what to expect, a little excited since its unlike anything I have done before, and a little confused about how I am going to use the potable water container I have. With these thoughts, and one sip of water, I head to bed.

9:00am: I decide that the only way I can survive this task is if I ration my water. For this purpose, I find a glass that holds 500ml of water. This will be my measuring cup for the day. I also transfer 600ml water into a water bottle for drinking so I know how much water I am consuming through the day. The advantage I have – I don’t drink too much water, and it’s a fairly chilly day.

10:00am: By now I have already used up 6.6L of water since I used the bathroom, brushed my teeth and took the most frugal bath of all time. I finally decide it is time to make myself some breakfast. I quickly realize (with some sense of happiness), the only thing I need water for is coffee. I use less than 100ml of water for my morning coffee, and have a breakfast of eggs and toast, none of which require any water! I decide to use a small plate to eat this in (I have to use water for washing later too! No dishwashers allowed)

4:00pm: The day has been a busy one with work and emails through the day. I finally decide to have a sandwich for lunch (again no water used!). This is accompanied with my water bottle.

5:00pm: I decide I need to use the bathroom again – I tried controlling and the bladder has reached its peak! I also decide to wash my face (bad idea!). In between all this, another 4.5L of water is used up!

8:00pm: It’s finally dinner time. I am still on my first 600ml of water, so that’s not going too badly. Dinner is a simple meal of stir-fried fish with tatziki and some bread. Other than using about 200ml of water to wash the fish, I don’t use any more water here.

I am now at 11.3L of water used!

9:30pm: I decide its time to wash the dishes. At this time I am also done with my 600ml of water. I refill the bottle again. Between washing dishes and refilling my water bottle, I am at 13L of water gone!

11:30pm: It is time to call it a night now, and I give in and use the bathroom again. Another 4L of water gone down the flush (literally)!

As I head of bed, I am of 17L of water used up.  

I wake up the next morning, and I have 3L of water of go and about 400ml of drinking water in my water bottle. With one visit to the washroom, my water quota is over! While it wasn’t as difficult as I imagined, it did require some amount of planning and rationing. I quickly realized my daily cooking doesn’t require too much of water but on the other hand any time to use the washroom, for any purpose at all, the amount of water we end up consuming is eye opening!

To think that sanitation (or lack thereof) is such a big problem in India today, when you begin to add how much water is required to do any task associated with sanitation, it dawns upon you that without access to water (and decently large quantities), sanitation provisions just wouldn’t work!

On average, a woman living in rural India spends 25% of her time each day collecting water. Each container weighs approximately 44 lbs (nearly the same weight as an airline’s checked bag allowance). It’s back-breaking work.

Hauling heavy loads of water over long distances takes a toll on a woman’s health... and the daily burden of water collection limits opportunities for women to spend their time in more productive ways, like work or school.

In Rajasthan, India only 44% of women are literate (compared to 76% of men) and only 1 in 100 girls graduate from high school. The most common reason girls drop out? To spend more time on household chores, including water collection.

This holiday, you can be a part of the solution - help Wello make headloading history by contributing to our efforts to deliver WaterWheels to families in India.

Across the globe, women and girls spend hours every single day collecting water - instead of spending their time in more productive ways -  studying, working, caring for children or simply relaxing. 

The impact of a girl gaining access to education, to improved sanitation and water improves not only her life, but also that of her entire family and her community at large... it’s a concept referred to as ‘the girl effect.’

Wello is looking for an intern for a challenging but fun monitoring & evaluation project in Mumbai.

Wello has recently distributed close to 800 WaterWheel units with a number of NGO partners in Maharashtra. Through this project, we aim to gain a data-backed understanding of the impact of these partnerships - how much time are consumers saving? what are they using this time for? what is the impact on health, gender equality, income?

Wello is therefore currently looking for a creative, curious, but experienced intern to assist in data collection and analysis through surveys, interviews and activity modelling.This internship shall be fast-paced, with a fair amount of field work and also rigorous trend analysis/forecasting. An intern can expect to come out of this experience with a lot of research and analytics experience as they relate to market-oriented goals of a successful social-enterprise. Candidates ideally have an undergraduate degree in economics, social work, public policy, sociology or any other similar/related field. Applicants should have some experience in rural fieldwork, and be comfortable with a lot of travel to unique village-settings. All travel costs will covered by Wello. Fluency in English and Marathi is a must!

Upside of working at a social enterprise - a guaranteed prime time spot at most dinner table conversations. The rural, village, austere living, endless train rides, open defecation (Yes! Really!) are hot sellers in an urban setting. Few minutes in, comes in the question of what life is like on the other side of money - i.e the bottom of the pyramid. Is it tough? How do 'they' manage without a toilet? It must be tough! Well, isn't it for all of us, in some way?

The poor are just as happy or sad as you. Here's why:

As part of Wello’s culture when someone joins the Wello team they embark on a day long journey called the 10 Litres x 24 hours challenge. This is the story of Insiyah’s journey as told by her.

My journey started at 12am on 15th October 2015. 

When I woke up that morning, despite trying to be as frugal as possible with my water (includes not having a bath!) I still used 2 ltrs.

So far I’d been sleeping for most of the time that had gone by but now that I was awake, even before lunch I’d used another 1 ltr just in staying hydrated!

It was now 3pm and I'd had lunch. Despite drinking barely 2 sips of water, in just using the bathroom and washing my hands I was another 3 ltrs down.

At 6pm, I had only used the bathroom and not had a sip of water to drink. Still I was down another 2 ltrs.

Made it through another few hours in just 1.4 ltrs. I was really thirsty and as I chose to drink the water, that meant no bathroom!

I had another three hours to go! I haven’t tricked my self this much into thinking I don’t need to pee ever! It was dinnertime and I barely had any water left. In an hour I was all out of water!

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7a set out to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. This target was reached five years ahead of schedule! However, the approach that succeeded in bringing improved drinking water to 2.6 billion around the world likely won’t be the solution for the 750 million people who still lack reliable access to safe water today.

Why? The MDG approach focused on increasing access to water in cities, where large population densities meant interventions could have maximum impact. While this approach was effective in many ways, it failed to meet the need for safe water in rural areas, where populations are too scattered to justify the high costs of well-building and other infrastructure. For example, it would cost $280,000,000,000  to drill enough wells to make safe water accessible to everyone who lives more than half a kilometre from a source of water. That amounts to three times the entire Gross World Product (GWP) in 2014 alone! New approaches are needed in order to make safe water available to last mile consumers.

On the heels of the MDG’s success, the new Sustainable Development Goals invite the international community to build pathways that create sustainable water access for all. The new SDGs stress a much higher focus on: 1) eco-conscious decision making; and, 2) decreasing human inequality in all its forms (economic, gender, etc). This is where Wello comes in! Wello’s focus on ensuring that access to water is both equitable and sustainable is right in line with the SDGs, and we’re excited to see what this fresh look at the development agenda will bring!

You have:

Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop A computer with relevant software Ability to work independently as well as in collaboration with our team Ability to define and work to deadlines An excellent sense of layout and typography

You are:

Building your portfolio of work and dream of starting your own design studio Working on a flexible schedule Spending only 20% of your time working in office Committing 15-20 hours a week to Wello Hungry to be part of a uber-cool startup with a big, audacious goal to end the global water crisis

At Wello, you will:

Work on collaborative brainstorms with our global, multidisciplinary team on activating our brand Design and create: Marketing collaterals – flyers, posters, direct mailers, social media graphics Brand collaterals - annual report, internal communication templates

How to apply:

To apply, please include the position title and your name in the subject line of the email and send your portfolio to [email protected].

It’s that time again! Wello is hiring! 

We’re a small team whose complimentary skillsets and diverse experiences make for an workplace of constant learning + exciting collaborations. We’re big fans of human- centered design processes and Lean Startup methods. We prefer simplicity to complexity, we celebrate failure and we’re comfortable getting uncomfortable.

*Job perks: Share a cup of chai with wonderful people like Varsha

Wello is at an exciting stage – we’ve built a strong foundation and we’re on track to meet our goal of impacting one million lives in our first 5 years of operations. But we can’t do it alone. This is where you come in!

We are looking for a sharp, young mind to join us in the role of : Impact Researcher

Working at Wello is a lot of fun. We are located in the hip neighbourhood of Bandra (Mumbai) and love our job. A bit more about us:

Our favourite buzzwords:

jugaad, systems, empathy

Our favorite things:

Post-its, whiteboards, caffeine in all forms

All about the job:

THE POSITION: RESEARCHER (PRODUCT & IMPACT)

This role is focused on:

• Impact: Data collection and analysis, on-ground field research, consumer insights

• Product research: Primary and secondary research, new product development, market studies

You have (essential):

• Minimum 2-3 years of relevant professional experience (preferably in social enterprises); • A degree in social sciences/or social entrepreneurship or relevant work experience in product/impact research and fieldwork • Strong communication skills, written and verbal: fluent in English, Marathi and Hindi 

You are:

•   A explorer, like travelling and comfortable with rural/tribal life

•   Detail-oriented; you like numbers and probably have Excel open on your computer right now

•   Resourceful; you always find a way to get the job done

•   Curious; you’re always asking ‘why?” and have a tendency to be hands-on when it comes to finding the answer

•   Analytical; able to identify trends, patterns and root causes

•   Proficient in qualitative + quantitative research methods – survey design, focus groups, data mining, etc

•   Want to be a part of a startup with a big, audacious goal, comfortable to work in a startup culture

•   Based in Mumbai, and are looking for a work commitment of atleast 1 year

At Wello, you will:

Work on projects related to market & product research, impact measurement + data collection (primary and secondary) + evaluation – and more! You will help Wello build and measure the impact collection tools and metrics, to gauge the end impact of our products. You will be conducting data collection fieldwork across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. If this sounds interesting, please be in touch – we’d love to brainstorm with you!

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply, please include the position title and your name in the subject line of the email and send your CV and Cover Letter, in PDF format and your LinkedIn profile, to [email protected]. * The role starts on: Aug 1, 2015

Building a ‘company’ culture can be challenging when you are a team of a mere two or three. Work environments, especially in the startup space, are a matter of pride and do great on the ‘who’s startup is cooler’ chat popular at networking events. The tougher talk is about how you build this culture into the DNA of a startup when you are a team of one or two.

At Wello, we have been using ourselves as a playground for prototyping crazy. This goes beyond our product – it goes into the way we do things, even the way we do boring mundane things. The past 15 months has been a tween phase, figuring out what’s ‘our way’ of doing, who are we, what’s our handwriting?

*the picture above is of the founding team being highly collaborative during a strategy retreat!

Here are our learnings– what we think IS our culture and how we got there.

Wello is an award-winning social venture that designs innovative, affordable solutions that provide reliable access to safe water for last mile consumers. Over the past 2 years we’ve conceptualized, prototyped, iterated, and tested our flagship product, the WaterWheel, tested our business model assumptions and developed the systems we need in order to scale.  

We’re a small team whose complimentary skillsets and diverse experiences make for an workplace of constant learning + exciting collaborations. We’re big fans of human-centered design processes and Lean Startup methods. We prefer simplicity to complexity, we celebrate failure and we’re comfortable getting uncomfortable.

Wello is at an exciting stage – we’ve built a strong foundation and we’re on track to meet our goal of impacting one million lives in our first 5 years of operations. But we can’t do it alone. This is where you come in!

We’re looking for a terrific person to join our team for the role of Operations Strategist. Interested? Read more about the profile here: http://bit.ly/1FZ3YPD

This is your chance!

Solve the global water crisis in 30 seconds from wello on Vimeo.

Wello is at an exciting stage - we’re in the midst of incredible growth and we’re looking for a few terrific people to join our team. The roles we’re recruiting for include:

• Wello Fellows + accomplished, driven individuals with 1-3 years of work experience who make substantive contributions to our work by focusing on specific projects / verticals over the course of 3-6 months + you’ll get a lot of responsibility and gain hands on experience working in a fast-past startup environment

• Gurus + Professionals with 5+ years of work experience who have specific, relevant industry expertise to share + a minimum of one week to spend working closely with our team in Mumbai, India; think about this opportunity as a sabbatical from your career – an opportunity to share what you know with our curious, fast-learning team. + Knowledge we’re seeking: operations + logistics, building / improving our systems to help us become more efficient (everything from HR to CRM), strategic partnerships, manufacturing - the list goes on… if this sounds interesting, please be in touch – we’d love to brainstorm with you!

> Full time roles • Product manager This role places you at the intersection of business, technology and user experience. A typical day at Wello might find you on the factory floor or in the lab, overseeing quality control; liasing with our sales team, manufacturers and vendors; and talking to users for feedback on new innovations / improvements to our current products. THIS POSITION IS NO LONGER OPEN.

• Operations strategist This role is focused on business strategy, operational excellence and efficiency. A typical day might see you planning production schedules or overseeing QC, prototyping ways we can improve the efficiency of our invoicing/sales cycles, evaluating Wello’s progress towards achieving our sales + impact goals – and strategizing with the team to identify areas for improvement + new opportunities.

*All roles are based out of Mumbai, India. 

The value of a prototype is in what it can test. It isn’t always necessary to make it pretty, nor to make it function, it totally depends on what you are trying to learn from it.

Over the past 2 years, the Wello team has lived and worked in dozens of villages, carried hundreds of liters of water and engaged with thousands of potential consumers and sector experts across three continents. We prototyped, iterated, watched, listened, learned, measured… and then did it all again, and again…

Today, we are thrilled to announce that our new and improved WaterWheel 2.5 is in production! We're taking orders now for January 2015 delivery.