Vision

We envision a new generation of wastewater treatment enabling the autonomous operation of toilets anywhere.

Mission

Ogmo provides modular sanitation backend solutions.

We enable route optimization through online sensing. Our on-site treatment technology allows volume reduction and the recovery of resources such as water and nutrients.

Based on the principles of circular economy, we ensure public health, environmental protection, but also enable the local recycling of resources for direct reuse.

Founders

Michel Riechmann

Co-founder, CEO

is a toilet advocate who likes to draw attention to the backend stories.

David Hasler

Co-founder, CTO

tweaks the prototypes until they are products.

Kai Udert

Co-founder,
senior scientific advisor

is the curious mind behind new research.

How we work –
The ogmo approach

Three key competencies form the foundation of ogmo’s success in delivering innovative, efficient and eco-friendly wastewater treatment solutions:

Complementary expertise

Expertise from academic water research meets industrial engineering and product development know-how. Our team drives innovation in on-site sanitation and water reuse technology by effectively combining design features of treatment plants and home appliances.

Extensive experience

Ogmo builds on extensive experience in the development of on-site wastewater treatment technology, both over the course of research projects (Ref. Novaquatis, Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: Blue diversion & BD Autarky, Vuna, STUN) as well as projects in industry (Helbling Technik for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Methodological competence

Methodological competence is key in product development, especially in early development phases. We apply engineering tools like agile prototyping, facilitating rapid iteration and refinement of solutions. Agile project management with fast development sprints find applications in early prototype phases, while a more linear, long termed planning is followed to deliver reliable systems for field tests in a specific environment.

Work with us

Our commitments

Why we exist

Ogmo was founded to address a specific environmental and public health problem: conventional sanitation dilutes human excreta in large volumes of water, discards the nutrients it contains, and requires sewer infrastructure that much of the world does not have and cannot afford to build. We develop modular, on-site treatment systems that reverse this logic — recovering nitrogen, phosphorus and water instead of flushing them away, and working without a sewer connection.

This purpose is not a side project alongside our business. It is written into our articles of association, which commit the company to improving the resource efficiency of sanitation systems and to researching and developing systems for water reuse and the recovery of valuable materials.

Reinvesting profits

Ogmo is a for-profit company because we believe a self-sustaining business is the most reliable way to get this technology into the field at scale. But profit is the means, not the end.

We commit to reinvesting the majority of any surplus — the amount remaining after salaries and operating costs — into our social and environmental purpose: research and development of nutrient and water recovery technology, field testing, and making our systems accessible in contexts where sanitation infrastructure is missing.

Protecting our purpose over time

A purpose written into founding documents can be voted out again. We are committed to locking ours in.

Ogmo AG is wholly owned by its founders. No external, return-maximising investor holds shares, and under our articles of association every share transfer requires board approval and any change to the company purpose requires a two-thirds majority. This means nothing in our current ownership or financing prevents us from binding our purpose more tightly.

The board of ogmo AG has resolved to go further: we intend to amend our articles of association to protect the social and environmental purpose through periods of transition — including changes in management, changes in ownership, and dissolution — and to seek shareholder approval for this amendment. We will report publicly on this page once the amendment is in force.