Talk to the team

Operra Foundation · founded by Sparkoper

the barrier to ai in essential services isn’t technology. it’s data.

We structure the data of water, sanitation and solid-waste utilities in the Global South — then train their teams to use AI on it.

the first AI-native foundation for essential services.

Talk to the team Read the full dossier (PDF) →

scattered data → structured  ·  click to replay

nothing to analyse yet

— and that is exactly where operra starts

what ai surfaced in one utility’s data

2,000
inactive meters
lost revenue
35%
miscategorised complaints
service inefficiency
3
trucks on irregular routes
route anomalies

three programs, one method

One method: we turn each utility’s raw data into structured, shared knowledge — and every utility trained makes it sharper for the next.

  1. train

    We structure a utility’s raw data with AI, then train its managers on it. Seeing what it reveals is the trigger.

  2. publish

    We turn what we learn into open, living maintenance references — by sector and equipment, multilingual.

  3. support

    A sector-specific AI assistant stays with each utility afterwards. Cost to them: a smartphone and WhatsApp.

proven, not promised

~500
managers · 200 cities · 54 countries — an existing network with documented digital needs
97 / 98
equipment categories and procedures — knowledge base built and deployed
50+
senior managers trained with SUEZ at NWSC Uganda (2025)
In the field with

Proven vs projected

proven today
NWSC training delivered & SUEZ-certified
Knowledge base built — 97 equipment, 98 procedures
AI assistant deployed and operational
today
projected
200 people trained across 3–5 countries in 18 months
Continuous post-training support at network scale
Earned-revenue trajectory defined in year 2

Evidence NWSC certificate of satisfaction →

why now — two things just flipped

to run one utility’s ai
too expensivea few hundred € a year
↓ ~10× cheaper per year — IEA 2026
to structure its raw data
not good enoughdone in minutes

Fund Operra now, while a modest cheque still tips the network past the point where it compounds on its own.

a lean ask, maximum leverage

85%+
of every euro reaches programs directly
to programs
overhead
a modest cheque Sparkoper, in kind a multi-country program
unusual leverage for the sector
30–50
utilities · year 1

3–5 countries · first open maintenance reference published

200+
utilities · years 2–3

10+ countries · the AI assistant in daily use across the network

500+
utilities · year 5

20 countries · roughly one in five utilities ready for AI today

We tailor the envelope with each funder; the full budget is in the dossier.

Talk to the team Download the dossier (PDF) →

independent by design

Founded by Sparkoper — and structured so that never compromises it. Operra is a legally independent endowment fund (fonds de dotation); the overlap is governed, not hidden:

  • Board majority independent — the founder has no veto.
  • Founder recuses from any Sparkoper-related vote.
  • Any Sparkoper service invoiced at market rate.
  • Accounts certified by an independent auditor.

Read our governance →