Celebrating International Women’s Day 2021 : VAPAR

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are interviewing Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar about their company, VAPAR. The Australian based business helps water utilities to modernise their pipe inspection processes, streamline their budget and improve their asset conditions. VAPAR participated in our second United Utilities Innovation Lab.

Tell us about yourself and your entrepreneurial journey?

VAPAR was started in January 2018 by Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar. Amanda’s background is in Civil/Environmental Engineering, and Michelle’s background is Mechatronics Engineering.

How did your business idea come to you?

As a civil engineering intern, Amanda used to watch sewer inspection footage for 8 hours a day. This manual, time consuming experience was something that she shared with high school and university friend, Michelle Aguilar. Together, Michelle and Amanda started VAPAR with a mission to disrupt manual process in pipeline management, and give water utilities the data they need to make decisions faster.

As your company grew, what were the primary challenges?

Hiring talented people so that we were able to deliver quality to our customers at scale.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

Making a difference and solving real world problems. Everyone in our team relishes a challenge, and pushing boundaries.

What advice would you give to other women entering the entrepreneurial world?

Starting is hard, but persistence is key.

What’s been the most rewarding moment of your journey as a founder/entrepreneur?

Being able to work with other talented, passionate and curious people.

Where do you see your business in the next 12 months?

Growing internationally.