Welcome to Global Good’s Impact Interview series. Today, we’ll be speaking with Andrea Demichelis, the Founder & CEO of Elliot for Water, a free browser extension that turns your homepage into a productivity dashboard while funding clean water projects.
In this interview, Andrea discusses his pathway into the tech for good space, the shocking truth about access to clean water and how providing this vital resource can have such a profound effect on the local economy, income generation and the empowerment of women.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role?
My name is Andrea Demichelis, and I’m a social entrepreneur focused on expanding access to safe drinking water. I’m the founder of Elliot for Water, a free browser extension that turns the homepage into a simple productivity dashboard and that uses part of the revenue to fund clean water projects around the world. My goal is to make impact a natural part of the workday and, over time, improve the lives of as many people as possible through access to water.
What was the motivation behind Elliot for Water?
Before Elliot for Water was even a remote thought in my head, I was studying finance to become a stockbroker and retire to private life by the age of 40. Soon enough, though, something in me changed, and I found myself in that strange situation of no longer knowing what direction to take.
During that period, I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The book explores the concept of the universe helping those who are willing to go after their mission. That reading marked a turning point. It helped me see more clearly and clarified something essential: whatever I chose to build in life needed to have a positive impact on the world.
My work needed to be meaningful. It had to stand for something. And for me, that meant starting a company. I wanted to build something with a clear social mission, something designed to last, and something that could still be helping people a hundred years from now. That belief is what led to the creation of Elliot for Water.
Can you describe Elliot for Water’s mission and values?
Our values are rooted in sustainability and long-term thinking. As a social enterprise, we believe that meaningful impact must be built on a solid and viable business model. The more successful the company becomes, the more resources we can direct toward water projects and lasting change.
At the same time, growth will allow us to better support the people working at Elliot for Water. By fostering a healthy and fulfilling work environment, we believe teams can do their best work and thrive both professionally and personally. This creates a positive cycle in which business success, social impact, and human well-being continuously reinforce one another.
That same long-term mindset guides our approach to water projects. We focus on financing sustainable solutions that can support communities over time, rather than short-term fixes. At the core of Elliot for Water is the belief that technology, when designed responsibly, can be a powerful tool to create meaningful and measurable impact at scale.
What are some of the most pressing social issues that Elliot for Water is working to address through its technology?
Elliot for Water focuses on one of the most urgent and overlooked global challenges: access to safe drinking water. Today, around 600 million people still lack reliable access to clean water. What is often misunderstood is that many of them are willing and able to pay for it. However, due to a lack of affordable infrastructure and financing, they are forced to pay extremely high prices, often ten to fifteen times more than the middle class, or spend hours each day walking to distant water sources.
We chose to focus on water because it is the foundation of life. Access to safe water directly improves health, but its impact goes far beyond that. It unlocks opportunities for education, enables women to work and participate more fully in society, and allows children to experience a healthier and more stable childhood.
This is already visible in our work on the ground. In Guinea-Bissau, a completed water project has enabled children to return to school, allowed women to engage in economic activities, and helped the community use water for agriculture, growing food for their own needs and generating income by selling surplus produce.
Water is the basis of both economic and social development. By improving access to safe water, we aim to create a ripple effect that strengthens entire communities and supports long-term, sustainable growth.
“By improving access to safe water, we envision a future where communities can thrive economically, children can receive an education, and women are empowered.”
How does your company measure the impact of its work in creating positive change?
As mentioned above, access to safe water has both direct and indirect effects. At this stage, Elliot for Water focuses on measuring what can be reliably verified. We track three core indicators: the amount of clean water provided, the number of people reached, and the number of water projects completed. These metrics allow us to quantify the scale and tangible outcomes of our work.
Beyond these core indicators, we aim to build a general understanding of the broader effects of our water projects. This includes observing how access to safe water can influence local economic activity, such as income generation or job opportunities, as well as factors like school attendance.
The empowerment of women is another critical aspect we will consider. Through our projects, we aim to positively transform the lives of women, reducing the burden of water collection and allowing them to engage in income-generating activities, have a better community life and, ultimately, pursue their aspirations.
We also recognise the environmental dimension of water access. Over time, we aim to better understand and, where possible, estimate the environmental effects of our projects, including potential reductions in CO₂ emissions linked to changes in water access and usage. This remains a longer-term objective as our impact framework continues to evolve.
Our goal is to create a meaningful and lasting impact. By improving access to safe water, we work toward a future in which communities have stronger foundations for economic activity, children have better opportunities to attend school, and women are better supported in pursuing their ambitions.
In your opinion, what impact will technology have in creating a better future?
I believe technology is a powerful tool with the potential to create a significant positive impact on our world. But its value doesn’t come from technology itself; it comes from the choices we make when building and applying it.
When technology is shaped by people with strong values and a clear vision for the common good, it can become a real force for progress. The good news is that more and more entrepreneurs, builders, and organisations are combining innovation with purpose. And with the rise of AI, this potential is only increasing by lowering barriers to entry, accelerating problem-solving, and enabling small teams to create solutions at a much larger scale.
What advice do you have for other companies looking to use tech for good and positively impact the world?
My advice is to approach tech for good with a for-profit mindset, where the business and the impact reinforce one another rather than compete. If we want social impact to be sustainable and long-lasting, the company behind it must be sustainable as well.
A strong and successful business creates the conditions needed to generate lasting impact. It can reinvest resources, attract talented people, and continue to innovate over time. This, in turn, creates a positive cycle where business growth, team wellbeing, and social impact all support and strengthen each other.
When a company is thriving, it has the capacity to do more good, at a greater scale and for longer. That is how impact moves beyond short-term initiatives and becomes part of a durable system for change.
Elliot for Water is based in London (UK) and is currently part of the Super Connect Programme (powered by Empact Ventures), receiving ongoing super connections to potential partners, clients and funders around the world.
