Founder of Give Me Tap, Edwin Broni-Mensah, who received his first formal funding for the venture through the Shell LiveWIRE UK programme in 2010, won the opportunity to pitch his business to the US President as part of a Global Entrepreneurship Summit initiative, in which young entrepreneurs competed to share their ventures with the world leader. Obama chose the entrepreneurs he wanted to hear from himself, with four winning businesses from the UK, Iraq, South Korea and Mexico pitching to him via life-size video conferencing technology. Employee and ambassador for the venture Sanum Jain completing the pitch itself.

Give Me Tap has gone on to develop partnerships with cafes and coffee shops across the UK. Customers buy a metal water bottle, and in doing so are entitled to refills of water from any partnered business, with all profits used to fund access to water projects in Africa. Each bottle purchased provides five years of access to clean drinking water and, to date, almost 15,000 people will benefit from clean water for life thanks to the business.

The pitch clearly impressed President Obama who praised Give Me Tap, saying, "It's a free ticket to fresh drinking water wherever you go.” He also commented that his wife, Michelle, who has worked with drinking water campaigns, would be very interested in their bottles. 

Click here to watch Sanum Jain pitching Give Me Tap to President Obama.