RainStick: a TIME-tested invention – Communitech

RainStick, a Canadian water-sustainability shower system, has been named one of the Best Inventions of 2023 by TIME.

RainStick Shower, which makes the RainStick, describes its flagship product as a WiFi-enabled circular shower system that can reduce water and energy usage by as much as 80 per cent. 

The tech-powered product captures, recirculates and cleanses water during a shower, conserving resources and delivering double the water flow of traditional showers, according to the company.

A RainStick app enhances user control, allowing individuals to monitor their water and energy savings, customize their shower experience to match their preferences and manage appliance maintenance.

TIME, an international media company, recently selected RainStick as one of 200 “groundbreaking” inventions of 2023.

“We are so grateful for TIME's recognition for our re-invention of the way we all shower,” CEO and co-founder Alisha McFetridge said. “We don't want people to think that sustainability has to be about making sacrifices. RainStick provides an elevated experience with increased water pressure that is only possible thanks to its sustainable, re-circulating design.”

McFetridge won Communitech’s 2020 Fierce Founders Pitch Competition, earning $75,000 in funding, which she used to advance R&D. 

She and co-founder Sean McFetridge launched RainStick in 2019 in Kelowna, B.C., an area often challenged by water shortages.

The company has achieved numerous milestones since then. In 2021, it announced a seed raise of $1 million and went on to begin selling its product in 2022. That year, RainStick won Best of Innovation in the Smart Home Category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as well as the Impact and Kickstarter awards at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, also in the U.S.