KARA WATER

My background is in architecture and engineering. My early career was spent developing high-rises and megaprojects including Hudson Yards, Changi Airport T5, and many other major projects around the world. During my career I developed meaningful relationships with many of the top 10 architecture firms and built out the entirety of the first international branch in the UK before departing to go fulltime at Kara Water. As CEO of Kara Water, my passion for water stems from dealing with bacteria riddled drinking water at a young age. During my studies, I was inspired by the Namibian desert beetle that can turn air in the driest desert in the world into drinking water and then drink it off of it’s own back. I realized that if this beetle could do this, then why couldn’t we? So, I set out to develop a system that could replicate the beetles natural phenomenon. This led to the creation of Kara Pure which now serves as the primary source of clean drinking water for thousands of people. My goal is to end our reliance on ground water for our drinking water needs and help so many people who experienced similar or worse water issues as myself.

Michael co-founded Kara Water and serves on the board.

Bill Irvine advises Kara Water on capital raising and other general business activities, resulting in over $700,000 raised through a convertible note and over $1mm of orders through pre-sales. He is an entrepreneur and has worked for 16 years for hedge funds, which have raised billions in assets. Bill is a mentor for the Cleantech Open accelerator for 5 years and invests in high-impact startups. Bill sits on a nonprofit board for a youth sports club and increased membership 25% in his first year and is on the development committee of a foundation for a rare-genetic-disease. Bill earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and double majored in Statistics & Applied Mathematics and Economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Colin Paterson has over 30 years’ experience in high tech engineering from startups to multibillion dollar companies in the semiconductor, supercomputer and telecommunications sectors. Colin was an early team member at MMC Networks which was an early pioneer for network processor technology capable of wire speed manipulation of telecommunication protocols. Most recently he was part of the business team at 7AC technologies (acquired by Emerson) which was a pioneering startup company that developed ground-breaking liquid desiccant plastic plate membrane isolated technology for large-scale air-conditioning applications. Colin brings his extensive desiccant and technology experience to Kara Water as a co-founder and technology advisor.

Harrison Bohrman is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning creative leader and entrepreneur who’s helped launch brands, grow audiences, and deliver engaging content for more than two decades. In addition to working on cutting-edge startups and co-producing The New York Times Critic’s Pick documentary “Bomb It", Harrison's accomplished background includes CNN, VICE, and Byron Allen Media.

John Vaskis is a 10+-year veteran of technology sales. He was Indiegogo’s first sales team member and built an international salesforce that helped entrepreneurs raise over 2B on the platform. He led sales and partnerships efforts at the experiential marketing platforms b8ta & SHOWFIELDS bringing numerous DTC companies to the masses in person. He is now leading BD efforts for Kara Water to expand their retail and international efforts to bring the best water to the world.

Innovator of the Swiffer Wet Jet at P&G and Colgate Total at Colgate-Palmolive, Raleigh has a track record in marketing and business growth with Fortune 500s and startups with over 100 product launches. Experienced board member, interim executive, business mentor, and civic leader.