Nobel Prize Win Buoys Business Case for Creating Water From Air
A startup founded by a Nobel laureate is targeting data centers in water-stressed regions as customers for its technology.
Nobel Prize winner Omar Yaghi is the founder of Atoco, which aims to harvest water from air.
Source: Atoco
Professor Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a scientific breakthrough that his startup is now on the verge of commercializing. Its technology harvests water from the atmosphere in an increasingly arid world, with the global recognition set to give it a boost.
“He has always been highly regarded in the scientific community, but the Nobel Prize gives us additional validation in the business world and simplifies the communication of what we are doing,” said Samer Taha, chief executive officer of Atoco, the Irvine, California, company Yaghi founded in 2020. Taha expects the Nobel to also spark interest among investors, though Atoco declined to comment on the company’s fundraising efforts.