Positioning Between Giants: How Deridut Created a New Category in Water Tech

Sometimes the biggest market opportunities lie not in competing with established players, but in finding the gaps between them. In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Javier Marti shared how Deridut carved out a new category in water tech by positioning themselves strategically between existing market segments.

Identifying the Market Gap

The water tech market was already served by two established segments. As Javier explains, “Competition spans in two different ways… On one hand, we have competition from sensor companies, basically selling sensors in hardware for people to buy and do their own sensing networks or sensing gathering technologies. And on the other hand, we’re sitting in front of all the people that are actually consuming data for risk models.”

Rather than competing directly with either segment, Deridut saw an opportunity to bridge them: “And here we are sitting in between the two big players on sensing and data space.”

Creating a Unique Value Proposition

What makes this positioning powerful is how it allows Deridut to compete differently with each segment. As Javier notes, “we’re competing against the sensing companies with sensing technology, which is, I would say, one of the most accurate sensing technologies in the world at the moment when it comes to water.”

Meanwhile, on the data side, they’re “competing, or may see basically working together and alongside all the main players were using water data to actually build some sense out of their flat models and the risk analytic tools at large.”

Solving the Data Scarcity Problem

This positioning is reinforced by their solution to a fundamental market challenge. At COP28, Javier coined the term “water data scarcity” to describe a critical gap: “If you look at the map of the United States, you see about 12,000, 17,000 at most data points or locations where we’re collecting data about water… If you do the math about the geographical extension of the United States, and you divide it by 15,000 just to do a quick math, you realize that’s not enough coverage.”

Building Market Understanding

Their positioning helps customers understand what they’re buying. As Javier explains, “Google Maps of water is just a term to define that you can actually visualize this. If you visualize this water impacts, then what you can do, you can tell essentially, is that we have lots and lots of data behind the scene, which is providing us the ability to compose that map of water. And this is what people, in the end, they are buying. They’re buying data and insights.”

Framework for Finding Market Gaps

From Deridut’s experience, we can extract a framework for identifying and owning market gaps:

1. Map existing market segments and their limitations
2. Identify areas where these segments fail to meet customer needs
3. Create a solution that bridges multiple segments
4. Position yourself as complementary rather than competitive
5. Build credibility through technical excellence in each segment

The Long-Term Vision

This positioning isn’t just about finding a market niche – it’s about creating a new category entirely. Javier’s vision is clear: “I really hope that we can have everybody using our water risk insights to understand the water risk that is around themselves.”

For founders looking to establish new market categories, Deridut’s approach offers valuable lessons. Instead of trying to displace existing players, look for opportunities to bridge established segments in ways that create new value. Success often comes not from competing directly with industry giants, but from finding and owning the valuable space between them.

The key is to position yourself as a complement rather than a competitor to existing solutions, while building the technical capabilities to credibly serve multiple market segments. As Javier’s experience shows, sometimes the best way to compete isn’t to take on the giants directly, but to find the valuable space they’ve left uncovered.