Impact Top Innovator example 2.5 billion litres of wastewater (including hazardous wastewater) was treated. This is enough to meet the water needs of approximately 25,000 households for a year in a developing country. Indra Water treated 243% more wastewater in 2024 compared to 2022, scaling up from 350 million litres to 1.2 billion litres per year through its innovative energy efficient solution. 153 million litres of wastewater was reused, which is enough to supply an elementary school of 5,000 students with water for drinking, sanitation and cooking for approximately 4.5 years. Epic Cleantec nearly doubled the amount of wastewater converted into treated water, increasing from 28 million litres in 2023 to 45 million litres in 2024. 2.7 million people received improved access to and use of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions in both developed and developing countries. Studies show that access to improved water and sanitation is associated with a 24.5% reduction of diarrhoeal disease among children under five.3SmartTerra improved access to WASH solutions for 120,000 people in Pune, India; Depok, Indonesia; and Dumaguete, Philippines in 2024. 7,980 people were trained to reduce impact from aquaculture and improve water use efficiency. NatureDots’ solution, AquaNurch Digital Twin, has de-risked fish farmers and supported 4,200 freshwater fish farmers in adopting sustainable fisheries practices and achieving optimum production in 2024, up from 1,095 in 2023. 915 people were trained to protect freshwater ecosystems.In only one year, Naireeta Services has trained 645 individuals, particularly youth and women, on freshwater ecosystem protection.Water The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative is a pioneering collaboration between global conglomerate HCL Group and UpLink, supported by the Forum’s Food and Water Initiative and aimed at building a leading water-focused Innovation Ecosystem to accelerate early-stage innovators or “aquapreneurs”. The first cohort of aquapreneurs was announced in 2023, while the second cohort, alongside a CHF 1.9 million (Swiss francs) investment from HCL Group, was announced during the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2024. Over these two years, UpLink has focused on helping aquapreneurs attract investment and scale their impact. To date, the first two cohorts have collectively raised $70 million in funding. The third Aquapreneur Challenge, launched at the World Water Forum in Bali in May 2024, focuses on establishing new partnerships with various public- sector entities. Harnessing support from UpLink’s Engagement Programme, aquapreneurs have already demonstrated significant impact. For instance, using an anomaly detection system called Autonomous Dynamic Flow Analytics (ADFA), SHAYP saved an impressive 7 billion litres of water in 2024, 3 billion more than in 2023. The increase in savings is primarily attributed to the addition of 2,273 metering points, and the goal is to save 100 billion litres of water by 2027 by expanding into new geographies. Between 2023 and 2024, UpLink Top Innovators’ solutions have resulted in the following impacts: Table 2 Top Innovators’ social and environmental impactThematic impact 2.2 Uplink Annual Impact Report March 2025 17

UpLink Annual Impact Report 2025