How PowWater is revolutionizing clean water access across Africa with Carta

Access to clean water remains one of Africa’s most pressing challenges. Today, more people have smartphones than tap water.

PowWater is tackling this crisis head-on with a mission to deliver clean water to customers with a click of a button. Using data-driven methods and innovative technology, the company is transforming how communities across the world manage and access water.

Co-founded by former political analyst Jack Hartpence, PowWater faces a unique dual challenge that is particularly acute in emerging markets: building a scalable business while establishing a strong equity culture in a market where both are relatively uncommon.

Since launching operations in 2018, PowWater has achieved impressive traction. The company has secured backing from top investors and garnered government support, quickly establishing dominance in the African market. However, as the company prepared to scale and expand into new markets, their traditional methods of managing equity and ownership needed to evolve, leading them to choose Carta.

Building an equity culture in Africa

For most startups, equity compensation is a standard practice—an expected part of the employment package to motivate, retain, and attract top talent. But in many parts of Africa, the concept of a stock grant is unfamiliar, creating a significant educational and cultural hurdle for companies trying to compete for talent on a global scale. “In many emerging markets, equity isn’t yet a common language in the startup world,” says Jack. “We’re helping to change that, showing teammates that ownership isn’t an abstract concept, it’s a path to shared success."

After raising their first funding round, PowWater needed a platform that would not only serve as a clean, central source of truth for their data, but also make equity tangible and understandable for employees. The company chose Carta after evaluating several options, drawn to its powerful software with in-depth resources and expert support for seamless onboarding.

Today, PowWater’s employees can log in to Carta’s platform to see their equity vest in real time, tracking their growing ownership stake as the company achieves key milestones. This level of visibility helps them to visualize their ownership stake and, more importantly, see a direct connection between their daily work and the company’s overall success.

By empowering employees with clear, real-time insights into their equity, PowWater isn’t just building an ownership culture, but also deepening their team’s commitment to the company’s social mission. Employees understand that they are not just working for PowWater, they are part owners in a global movement for clean water access, with a tangible financial stake in the company’s success.

The kind of visibility investors demand

Before Carta, PowWater’s ownership structure was managed manually by co-founder Ellie O’Neill, using spreadsheets and traditional financial tools. While this approach initially worked, the team recognized that a clean, well-organized cap table was far more than just an internal administrative necessity, it was a critical signal of a company’s maturity to potential investors. A messy cap table can immediately raise red flags for serious investors.

“Investors can read a cap table the way an engineer reads a blueprint,” says Jack. “Clarity signals integrity. We wanted ours to reflect the same discipline we bring to every part of PowWater.”

The team understood that investors regularly compare cap table quality across their portfolio companies and PowWater needed to meet that high standard to earn trust, demonstrate credibility and position themselves competitively against other investment opportunities.

The impact of choosing Carta was immediate during their fundraising process. “The first time we sent stock options through Carta, it was seamless and easy,” says Jack. 

The professional platform and automated workflows saved PowWater countless hours of back-and-forth with stakeholders while helping the company establish credibility and their commitment to operational excellence.

“For cap table management, Carta’s spot on,” says Jack “It’s become the backbone of how we manage ownership, and I’m excited to explore how we can extend that foundation into some of their fundraising tools and beyond.”

Clean cap table for a clean water future

As PowWater continues to scale across Africa and prepares for their next phase of growth, the importance of a clear and transparent ownership structure will only become more critical. Jack remains confident that Carta will continue to support their journey ahead, particularly as they navigate the complexities of multi-jurisdictional growth and its increasingly complex equity structure.

Despite the emergence of other service providers in the market, PowWater has chosen to remain with Carta. “We’ve seen other tools try to replicate it. Carta built the standard and that trust and network effect are hard to duplicate.” He credits this to Carta’s unique value proposition and powerful network effects, which has established the platform as the industry standard. This meant most of PowWater's investors already know Carta, making communication and workflows even easier for both parties. The network effects extend beyond just investor relations. As PowWater recruits talent from international markets, having an established and trusted equity management platform will enhance their ability to compete with global companies for top talent.

With Carta handling the company’s complex equity management, PowWater’s leadership team can focus their energy and attention on what matters most: delivering clean water globally across underserved communities through Africa and beyond.

“PowWater isn’t just moving water,” says Jack. “It’s building digital water infrastructure for the next billion people. By pairing physical delivery networks with data, sensors, and real-time transparency, we’re transforming how water moves through cities, communities, and economies. Carta gives us the same clarity inside the company that we bring to our customers, a single source of truth, built for scale. As we expand from Africa across global markets, PowWater is defining what the future of water access looks like: connected, intelligent, and owned by the people it serves. We’re not just building a company; we’re building the operating system for water."