In this episode of Ventures by the Lake, we sit down with Manuela Zoninsein, founder and CEO of Kadeya, to talk about reinventing bottled water, dialing in on deep customer needs, and scaling hardware in overlooked markets.

Manuela shares how Kadeya evolved from a homegrown experiment to a full-fledged closed-loop beverage system, complete with smart, self-sanitizing vending machines and reusable bottles. What started as a pilot in a tech office kitchen has since found product-market fit on construction sites, military bases, and industrial campuses - where hydration, waste, and logistics collide.

We discuss how her background shaped her entrepreneurial lens, and why she believes industrial infrastructure is the most overlooked climate opportunity today. Manuela also talks through early pivots, the challenges of being a hardware founder, and how she built a team culture rooted in transparency, curiosity, and speed.

Check out Kadeya here!