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HOPE Hydration is a technology company.
HOPE Hydration develops and installs smart water refill stations, HydroStations, in public and event environments. These units dispense chilled, purified water using advanced carbon-filtration and UV-stabilization. Each station incorporates 55-inch digital advertising screens, enabling no-cost deployment for hosts while providing brands measurable impression data and environmental impact metrics.
The company was co-founded by Cristina Gnecco, David Tigue, and CEO Jorge Richardson. Their venture originated from the dual insight of combating single-use plastic waste and ensuring widespread access to clean drinking water. They established an innovative, advertising-supported model to fund this public utility, aligning environmental impact and commercial viability.
HOPE Hydration's stations are adopted by clients including airports, city governments, event organizers, and large venues. The company's mission centers on providing universally accessible, free water to reduce plastic waste. Their vision is to establish sustainable hydration as a standard public amenity, connecting brands with environmentally aware consumers.
HOPE Hydration has raised $26.0M across 2 funding rounds.
HOPE Hydration has raised $26.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
HOPE Hydration has raised $26.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
HOPE Hydration's investors include Adrian Chiu, Tom Ferguson, Boost VC.
HOPE Hydration is a tech-enabled startup building HydroStations™, smart water refill stations that provide free, filtered, chilled drinking water in high-traffic urban venues like airports, stadiums, cities, and events.[1][2][3][5][7] These modular, IoT-connected units serve millions of daily visitors—such as over 300,000 in Times Square—by solving the problem of single-use plastic bottle waste through advanced filtration (Everpure from Pentair), real-time impact tracking (refills, plastic/CO2 savings), and ad-funded installation at no cost to venues.[1][2][3][5][6] As a Certified B Corporation founded on the belief that water is a human right, HOPE has raised $20M in Series A funding, delivered millions of refills, prevented over 2.6 million plastic bottles, and earned accolades like TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 (Special Mentions) and CES 2023 Smart City Innovation Award, signaling strong growth momentum toward global expansion.[1][3][4][6]
HOPE Hydration was founded in 2020 in New York (with Miami operations) by Jorge Richardson (CEO, Forbes '30 Under 30 alumnus and former head of business development at Closca, a water fountain app startup), Cristina Gnecco (co-founder, Head of Global Partnerships, cultural strategist), and Dave Tigue (co-founder, Head of Hardware, hardware engineer).[1][2][4][6] The idea emerged from Richardson's realization that grants alone couldn't scale global water access solutions, inspiring a pivot to ad-funded, tech-driven infrastructure after early experiments like an airport-ready unit.[2][6] Pivotal moments include the 2023 Times Square launch serving 300,000+ daily visitors, CES award win, and 2025 $20M Series A to accelerate deployment, building on initial traction at events like Ultra Miami.[1][2][4][5]
HOPE stands out in sustainable hydration through these key features:
HOPE rides the smart city and sustainability tech wave, capitalizing on urban electrification, IoT infrastructure, and anti-plastic regulations amid climate urgency.[2][3][5] Timing aligns with post-2020 demand for contactless, data-rich public amenities—accelerated by events and airports seeking green upgrades—while ad tech evolves to purpose-driven OOH, funding scalability without subsidies.[1][4][6][7] Market forces like rising PFAS/carbon concerns and high-traffic venue needs favor HOPE, influencing the ecosystem by pioneering "hydration as a platform" that motivates waste-reducing behaviors and enables brand impact campaigns, potentially standardizing ad-funded water access worldwide.[1][2][5][6]
HOPE's $20M raise and TIME recognition position it for aggressive U.S. scaling into every airport terminal and city corner, with global ambitions to make free water ubiquitous on street corners.[1][2][4] Trends like AI-enhanced IoT, stricter plastic bans, and smart city investments will propel growth, evolving its influence from niche innovator to infrastructure leader—proving profit and purpose can hydrate urban futures. This builds on its core mission: turning water rights into scalable tech reality.[1][3][6]
HOPE Hydration has raised $26.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $20.0M Series A in July 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2025 | $20.0M Series A | Adrian Chiu | Tom Ferguson |
| Feb 1, 2024 | $6.0M Seed | Boost VC |