Undesert Corporation

Undesert Corporation, founded in 2021 by Nicholas Seet and Hill Kemp, is a Los Alamos-based company focused on environmental technology. The venture was born from the founders' desire to address growing desertification and water scarcity. CEO Nicholas Seet is a serial entrepreneur with a background in software development and previous successful exits, including the acquisition of his company Auditude by Adobe Systems. CTO Hillery Kemp is an engineer with over 40 years of experience who invented and developed the core technology over a 12-year period.

The company's core offering is its proprietary and patented Salty Wastewater Purification (SWAP) technology. This thermal desalination process is designed to purify highly contaminated water, including sources with up to eight times the salinity of seawater, separating it into ultra-pure water and dry salt. The system has been tested in New Mexico and the UAE, demonstrating its capability to handle industrial wastewater from sectors like oil and gas, which produces significant volumes of contaminated water daily. The technology is designed to be modular and scalable, allowing for deployment close to demand points to service individual wells or larger clusters.

Undesert operates on a B2B model, targeting industries that generate substantial wastewater, such as oil and gas extraction, and providing them with a more efficient purification method. The business strategy involves a three-pronged approach: purifying polluted water, using that clean water for reforestation projects on degraded land, and eventually creating sustainable wood products from these newly forested areas. This model positions the company to enter both the wood products and carbon capture markets. Initial projects have shown promising results, with pine trees in a New Mexico pilot project growing at up to 10% per month. The company has received recognition as a semi-finalist in the MassChallenge 2021 cohort and secured pre-seed funding from Techstars in 2023.

Keywords: water purification, desalination technology, environmental remediation, carbon capture, sustainable forestry, wastewater treatment, afforestation, cleantech, industrial water solutions, Salty Wastewater Purification (SWAP), produced water treatment, land restoration, sustainable wood products, Nicholas Seet, Hillery Kemp, MassChallenge, Techstars, zero liquid discharge, circular economy, desert greening