WED AM News: Water Council’s post-accelerator cohort driving water tech innovations; Evers announces new state film office

February 18, 2026

— Companies in the Water Council’s latest BREW 2.0 accelerator cohort hail from eight different countries, bringing global technology innovations to Milwaukee.

The water tech organization yesterday rolled out details for the 11 companies selected to participate in the Business, Research and Entrepreneurship in Water Accelerator 2.0 program, which starts in April with a three-day in-person session in Milwaukee.

After that, participating businesses will get several weeks of training on sales, pitching to investors, company culture and other business elements. The program culminates in a public showcase in mid-June, when the cohort will again gather in Milwaukee for more programming, meetings and an event with investors.

Katie Kollhoff Mouat, director of innovation programs at The Water Council, says the program “refreshes the traditional accelerator model, helping our entrepreneurs bridge the gap between breakthrough water tech with proof of market viability and the global community of end-users.”

Participants in the latest cohort include:

*Aquantix, a Colorado business with a cloud-based platform for monitoring water filters, including remote tracking of filter quality and forecasting replacement requirements.

*Bakal, a company out of Mexico that aims to transform “high-moisture biomass” into agricultural inputs and livestock feed. Its patented technology promises “high-value circular solutions” for recovering water from biomass for these purposes.

*Brightwater Tools, a Vermont company with technologies for filtering valuable materials from liquid waste streams and using them for concentrated fertilizer products.

*Evodrop, a Swedish firm with “advanced” water treatment systems that can filter for PFAS and other chemicals.

*Fluid Analytics, based in California. The company’s AquaGrid urban water systems platform uses AI-based infrastructure inspection along with sensors and environmental data to support utilities’ decisionmaking.

*Infractiv, another California business that’s developing predictive pipe modeling to help limit water loss in water systems and inform asset planning.

*Klarifi of Denmark, which provides wastewater industry insights with a platform that can search thousands of municipal budget documents.

*Our Rainwater, a UK business with a rainwater infrastructure data platform for both cities and water utility companies, aimed at reducing flooding and drought risk.

*Purgatoria, a Netherlands company with a patented sieve product for taking microplastics out of sewage.

*Waterjade, an Italian firm with a “digital twin” tool that can model and forecast water supply at springs, wells and reservoirs.

*Xatoms, based in Canada. The company has a proprietary AI model for discovering and deploying water purification materials.

See the release and see more on the BREW 2.0 program here.

— Gov. Tony Evers announced a new state film office in his State of the State speech, along with a tax credit program aimed at boosting the industry in Wisconsin.

With less than 11 months left in office, Evers yesterday delivered his final State of the State, which referenced the new Film Wisconsin office within the state Department of Tourism.

The guv’s office also released details for the new film tax credit, which will make up to $5 million available to support the production of film, TV, documentaries, broadcast advertisements and production infrastructure in the state.

“I’m excited to announce we’re launching the new program this week, which will help bolster our travel and tourism economies and bring exciting, creative endeavors right to Wisconsin’s doorstep, how about that,” Evers said.

Productions will need to spend at least $100,000 for projects 30 minutes or longer, and at least $50,000 for projects shorter than 30 minutes, to be eligible for tax credits under the new program. Projects can get up to $1 million in tax credits per fiscal year, and credits are retroactive to eligible costs from Jan. 1 onward.

Eligible expenses include wages for cast and crew, accommodations, the cost of set construction and operations, buying or renting facilities and equipment, location fees and other related goods and services. The newly formed office will review tax credit applications monthly.

Evers yesterday also offered several new initiatives, though he didn’t give many details in his speech. They included the purchase of 225,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy every year for the next two decades, which Evers said was enough to power more than half a million homes.

According to Evers’ office, the initiative will include requesting bids for the state to purchase renewable energy credits from Wisconsin-based projects. The credits are issued when electricity is generated and delivered to the grid by a renewable source.

Since 2007, the state has purchased more than 1.8 million such credits, and the request for proposal will seek options capable of delivering the credits starting in January 2031 for a 20-year term.

The guv also announced a partnership with UW-Madison’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics to study nuclear energy opportunities in Wisconsin. Touting it as a safe source of carbon-free power, he said it could “be a game-changer for our state.”

See more coverage here and see the guv’s prepared remarks here.

— Renew Wisconsin is urging support for a Dunn County solar project proposed by a Minneapolis-based developer.

The clean energy advocacy group yesterday issued an appeal for public comments on the Muddy Creek Solar project, which are being accepted through Monday. A subsidiary with the same name owned by Geronimo Power LLC submitted an application for the project last year with the state Public Service Commission.

The project includes a 322 megawatt solar farm along with a 300 MW energy storage system, a substation, a 344-foot transmission line tie-in to connect it to the electric grid, and an operation and maintenance building.

If approved, the project would be slated for completion by 2029 with construction starting in the second quarter of 2027. Muddy Creek Solar LLC currently doesn’t have any Wisconsin utilities under contract for the energy the project would produce.

In addition to creating 52 long-term positions, the construction phase would support more than 900 temporary jobs, according to testimony provided to the PSC by David Loomis, president of Strategic Economic Research and professor emeritus of economics at Illinois State University.

Renew Wisconsin says the project would reduce CO2 emissions by 954 million pounds in its first year of operation, equal to taking 94,000 vehicles off the road for the same period.

The group is also touting its local fiscal impact, noting it would provide more than $1.6 million in utility aid payments per year. Of that total, about $900,000 would go to Dunn County while the other $700,000 would go to the town of Spring Brook, where the site is located.

See more project details.

— NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes in Beloit will provide radioactive isotopes to the Greek firm BIOEMTECH under a new supply agreement.

The companies yesterday announced the framework for providing the actinium-225, which will be used in preclinical research studies by the Greek company’s customers. The isotope is used in developing and evaluating targeted radiopharmaceuticals, which have applications in imaging and cancer treatment.

Frank Scholz, president and CEO of NorthStar, says the agreement will support preclinical research efforts and improve global access to radiopharmaceuticals. While he notes the market is growing, a BIOEMTECH executive says supply challenges are holding back the industry.

“Reliable isotope supply is a major bottleneck in early radiopharmaceutical development,” Chief Quality Officer Maritina Rouchota said in a statement. “This agreement enables our customers to run more predictable, higher-impact studies using our imaging platforms.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

See more in the release.

— Dane County health officials are investigating a potential measles exposure at a Holiday Inn Express in Madison.

Public Health Madison & Dane County says an out-of-state traveler who stayed at the hotel earlier this month later tested positive for measles. This case is not related to the confirmed case of measles linked to the UW-Madison campus.

The county’s release says exposure may have occurred at the Holiday Inn Express on High Crossing Blvd. on Feb. 6 from 12:01 a.m. to 12 p.m. While the health agency is reaching out directly to known contacts of the person with measles, the announcement notes it doesn’t have a full list of possible exposures.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health Services measles dashboard shows two cases among Wisconsin residents so far this year, one of which resulted in hospitalization.

See the release.

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