The U.S. Air Force has selected a Chicago startup to help reduce its water bottle waste.
Kadeya announced this week that it landed a contract to bring its closed-loop vending system to two Air Force bases.
The award, a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, is around $1.25 million. The money will go toward research and development of Kadeya's vending machines, which aim to eliminate the need for disposable, single-use plastic water bottles using a closed-loop beverage vending system. It follows a Phase I grant that the company received last November that was around $75,000.
The SBIR Contract was awarded through AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Department of Air Force and a technology directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Kadeya founder and CEO Manuela Zoninsein said she expects the two vending machines to be deployed in the next six to nine months, though she could not disclose which Air Force bases would be receiving them.
How Kadeya eliminates single-use water bottles
Kadeya's vending system creates a network of bottling stations and reusable, digitally identifiable bottles where every station in the network washes, sanitizes, inspects and refills the bottle for the next use.
"What's really exciting about the contract is that it validates Kadeya's potential to have value both in the military and everyday worker applications," Zoninsein told Chicago Inno.
In both military environments and industrial workspaces — Kadeya's target market — the workforces engage in physical work, making hydration critical to performance and safety.
By using Kadeya's autonomous, self-serving beverage stations, the Air Force wouldn't have to rely on single-use bottles, which can be a logistical headache, Zoninsein said.
"Transporting those bottles all over the world, distributing them on-site and disposing of that waste is also a security risk," she said.
Zoninsein said moving forward she will continue to pursue grants to improve and evolve Kadeya's station design and will look to move to not just more domestic Air Force bases, but international and frontline deployments as well.
"There's few other entities in the U.S. whose seal of approval will generate more confidence in the market," she said. "We launched last November with a pilot unit and that construction company has since committed to seven units."
Kadeya had an additional launch at a pharmaceutical corporation earlier this year where they offer carbonated and flavored beverages.
While the company had planned on 10 units in 2023, 400 units in 2024, and 1,600 units in 2025, Zoninsein said the company has since "pulled back" on those expansion plans.
"Our goal for 2024 is 20 units — those are sold out. Then our goal for 2025 is 150 units, after which we expect to scale in the thousands," she said.
