Defining a business for Mexico.
Connecting a partnership, the realities of the market, and a concrete plan to operate.
Structuring the partnership
PowWater’s founders, who had built the model in Kenya, set out to bring it to Mexico and looked for a partner. They found Rotoplas, and then me. The structure was a three-way partnership: the founders held the know-how, Rotoplas brought the water business, and I, as co-founder and Mexico Country Manager, was the operator in Mexico. I led the work of defining how the business would operate and helped bring the joint venture to signature.
Understanding the company from within
Rotoplas is a publicly listed Mexican company, founded in 1978, with operations in 13 Latin American countries and the United States and annual sales above half a billion dollars. This was not a deal with just anyone. I worked across its leadership and operating teams, top down, and went into its operation to understand the business from the inside: its business lines, resources, expertise, and the gaps we needed to address.
Learning in the field
Time in the field with water-truck operators helped us understand that access to water sources was a central constraint. That work shaped our focus on B2B customers and securing supply. We also found a B2B service that looked very attractive for Mexico: it connected more of Rotoplas’s business lines with technology capabilities that PowWater had, but which in Kenya were secondary to its core business.
A signed JV and a decision not to launch
We worked to close the joint venture and structure the launch: the market-entry strategy, the plan to get out on the street to know the product and the customers, and who we would bring onto the team, when, and how. The JV was signed in 2026, but the launch did not proceed after the U.S. partner decided against committing capital because of its assessment of Mexico’s political and financial risks. Rotoplas chose not to fund the venture alone.
For now it has not launched, but the door remains open. If the time comes to build it, I will be ready, with 2122.