On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2026. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Shirley ↗
In their words
We are really not running out of water, but we are running out of clean water.
They poured the industrial waste into the river streams year after year, and that river just got more nasty year after year as well. So that planted a seed inside me that I want to do something to make the environment a little better place.
We got back to work, got more progress, landed a few customers, and then we went out to the market again. And a year after, we raised $3 million just in Canada. So Canadian VC does have potential.
Around the web ×4
Quick answers
What does X Atoms do?
X Atoms discovers new materials to purify water. Its first product is a photocatalyst: added to contaminated water and exposed to any light source, sunlight or a simple LED, it produces clean, safe water in under 30 minutes. The team built an AI and quantum chemistry algorithm that scans large molecular databases for catalysts that remove dyes, bacteria, and heavy metals.
How does X Atoms compare to reverse osmosis?
Zhong describes it as a lower-cost solution than traditional purification like reverse osmosis, which she says returns only about a quarter of the water as clean while three quarters is wasted; X Atoms retains a higher volume. The micro-sized catalyst creates hydroxyl radicals that break down contaminants, is filtered out and reused for about a year, and runs as a tertiary treatment after solids and turbidity are prefiltered.
How has the company grown?
Zhong met her two co-founders, Diana, a photocatalyst materials researcher of over seven years, and Karen, an AI engineer, while working at the same company in Tokyo. After reaching the top six at the Hult Prize finals in London and losing the $1 million pitch, they landed customers and raised $3 million, all in Canada. The team grew from three to over ten in a year, is hiring lab technicians at its Mississauga campus, works with textile and agricultural customers with an initial mining trial, and was named a top water company by the World Economic Forum.