Founded in Norway in 2016, Haawal began with a simple question: Why were communities still fighting floods with sandbags — or, worse, with nothing at all. As two young engineers, we believed there had to be a simpler, more flexible, and affordable solution that could give communities the power to protect themselves.

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Like most beginnings, ours was messy. Our first ideas were terrible, and the early prototypes didn’t work the way we had hoped. But failure after failure pushed us closer to something that could. After two years of relentless testing, we finally had a working prototype and decided to show it to a flood-prone Norwegian municipality. They loved it, but told us they needed 500 meters of barriers in just two weeks. What they didn’t know was that we had only shown them a prototype. Young, naive, and stubborn, we promised to deliver. With long nights, family pitching in, and a miracle or two, we built and delivered the barriers on time.

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The flood never came that year. But five years later, the same barriers stood tall when the water finally did, and they worked exactly as we had imagined.

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Today, Haawal has grown far beyond our first prototype. Our patented mobile flood barriers protect communities across Europe. The system has two heights, adapts to any kind of terrain, sets up fast, and has been tested in real flood events. Most importantly, it gives people confidence, the knowledge that when floods hit, they are not left vulnerable.

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Our mission is clear: to have the biggest possible impact on reducing the negative consequences of flooding.

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Our vision: a world equipped with the right tools to fight floods.

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What we build is more than a physical barrier. It’s preparedness.It’s peace of mind.It’s the belief that simple, fast, flexible protection should be accessible to everyone.

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We are still a small team. Still innovators at heart. Still learning, improving, and pushing forward, one flood, one community, one delivery at a time.

 

Best regards,

Øystein Blix Walderhaug & Kristian Vemund Haaland 

Founders of Haawal

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