Cristine Gnecco thinks a lot about water. She built a South Florida company around it.
Her professional life revolves around providing free water and reducing the amount of plastic waste. That work has put Gnecco, co-founder HOPE Hydration, on Inc.’s Female Founders 500 List.
“I love what I do,” said Gnecco, 31. “We have a lot of beaches, so creating access to water and eliminating plastics matters.”
Gnecco, originally from Colombia, moved to Miami from New York City in 2020. She was motivated to start her own company by other entrepreneurs doing the same thing.
So she helped found of HOPE Hydration, a company that helps provide people with drinking water through refill stations. HOPE refill stations feature screens on which advertisers pay the company to show commercials. HOPE makes its money from the ad revenue.
The chilled water at each refill station comes from tapping local water lines, and goes through a filtration system.
Inc. magazine included Gnecco on the Female Founders 500 List after vetting her business success and leadership.
Now based in Midtown, she has been laser-focused on how people can consume water for free. Since launching, HOPE has partnered with companies including Nike and Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Gnecco has helped her company yield 4.4 million refills in its five U.S. markets and raise more than $26 million.
HOPE Hydration founders Cristina Gnecco, Dave Tigue (left) and Jorge Richardson pose. Courtesy photo
HOPE focuses on using technology to get water to people while reducing plastic waste along the way.
Plastic bottles generally end up in trash landfills, and research shows that only 37% of the more than 5 million tons of trash generated in Miami-Dade County each year is recycled.
People can take their plastic, reusable water bottles to a HOPE station and refill them for reuse. Businesses can advertise on the station screens, and HOPE can track how much water people are consuming and when they are refilling.
“Our product is solving a problem that’s very visible here,” she said. “You can see how other water solutions haven’t evolved. Water stations have broken and people are going to get plastic bottles.”
In addition to Miami, HOPE operates in Los Angeles, New York City, Austin and Minneapolis. Gnecco said that her company is focused on expanding in its five American markets.
Gnecco said getting rejections from potential partners and having a business concept that everyone may not understand doesn’t make life as a company executive easy. But the executive is hopeful that other women interested in entrepreneurship can see her journey and feel empowered to excel.
“I’m often one of the only women in the room, and I hope that inspires other women,” she said. “You’ll get a lot of no’s and a lot of closed doors. Continue to believe in yourself and your ideas.”
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Miami Herald
Michael Butler writes about minority business and trends that affect marginalized professionals in South Florida. As a business reporter for the Miami Herald, he tells inclusive stories that reflect South Florida’s diversity. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.