BIV Monthly Update LV – 5/20/25*
“I’ll be right baaaaackkkkk” Stuart “Stu” Macher, Scream
- More of this in the next update, but the Founder Forum was our most electric yet. It is so fun to see the original Islanders move through the gears, and then add all these new extraordinary founders to the mix.
- Christine & Steve were everything everywhere all at once at the
Global Water Summit
in Paris. The momentum in water is palpable, especially when things elsewhere in climate are unfortunately going through some hard yards.
- Fun to work through our first
SF Climate Week
. A delight to see so many of the network at the Fire & Water reception, co-hosted with
Convective Capital
. The fire people and the water people mixed remarkably well. A special thanks to all our current and prospective LPs who joined us.
- Congratulations to
Imagine H2O
for their exceptional events and programming at
SF Climate Week
. Thanks for having all three of the BIV Partners at various junctures. Some were more informative than others (CB & SK > TF).
- Technically this month, announcing our investment in AquiSense. This has the potential to be an extraordinary company, and they’ve just inked a serious deal with a leading UK utility. Much momentum…
- Raising a glass to Ruki surrounded by many friends from near and far, on the completion of another decade (not saying which one). Happy Birthday, love.
- I got to meet an entrepreneurial hero, get my ass handed to me by him on a mountain bike ride, see my first lemur, and sail a one-person cat in strong winds on crystal blue waters courtesy of Litestream. Lucky man.
- 2S Water – 2S Water won Startup TNT’s Summit XI pitch competition. Their tech will be presented at the European Desalination Conference by one of their partners. Good international visibility.
- Aclarity – Won the AUTM 2025 Better World Project Award. Mike performing exceptionally well.
- Aquafortus – Selected as a runner-up for Tech Idol at the Global Water Summit 2025 and also selected for something else we can’t quite mention yet. Significant (and deserved) recognition on the world stage.
- Beagle Services – Profitable again, with two consecutive months over $1m in revenue. Q1 saw strong income growth through price increases and improved market utilization in AZ, FL, IL, and VA.
- CivilGrid – 2025 momentum building following Afore Capital’s Founders-in-Residence & Portfolio Showcase. Major customer in SoCal now producing ARR, with much more to come.
- Daupler – Energizing presence at APPA’s Engineering & Operations Conference. Strong engagement with public power professionals focused on grid resilience & operational excellence.
- Floodbase – Partnering with Yokahu to launch a parametric flood product. A new approach for brokers seeking innovative flood solutions.
- Irrigreen – Featured in Axios and announced a Series A led by Natural Ventures and Burnt Island Ventures. Launched AI-powered quote tool to streamline precision irrigation adoption. Lots of good stuff in the funnel.
- LAIIER – Welcomed Jo Gustafsson as Technical Customer Success Manager. Jo brings deep expertise in driving value from emerging tech.
- NLine Energy – As their commercial numbers grow, so do their options. Moving into contract manufacturing with a high degree of confidence around the opportunity. Katie (CCO) rules.
- SewerAI – Announced partnership with RJN Group to bring AI-driven insights to sewer infrastructure. Helping utilities prioritize repairs, stretch budgets, and speed up assessments.
- Shower Stream – Presented at the Southeast Venture Showcase. Strong interest from investors and partners. Great support from Discovery to Impact and the Vanderbilt CTTC team.
- Spout – Working through the deliveries of their first units.
- Ziptility – Back at it for conference season. Moving the chess pieces after the transaction. Within breathing distance of breakeven.
- ZwitterCo – Introduced new FDA-compliant, anti-fouling membranes for whey processing. Expanding applications in food and dairy with cutting-edge filtration technology.
- AquiSense - Welcome to the Island! Here’s why we invested
- Aquatic Labs – Welcomed Luke Sawitsky as Head of Business Development. Bringing strong industry insight and energy to a growing team
- Cala Systems – Featured in The Cool Down for pioneering intelligent water pump technology. Helping homeowners reduce heating costs and energy use through smart thermal management.
- HOPE Hydration – Celebrated nearly 2 million plastic bottles avoided through refill stations at MSP Airport. Big news coming.
- Subeca – Launched the Wired Pin, expanding retrofit capabilities to encoded output metering. Compatible with Nicor & Itron, enabling easy AMI adoption with minimal infrastructure.
- TeamSolve – Wrapped CWEA 2025 after showcasing the Knowledge Twin™. Helping utilities streamline workflows and empower field teams. 3rd major customer signed.
- Flocean – Flocean Zero continues to produce water and provide valuable learnings toward the launch of Flocean One, a 1000 m³/day commercial demonstrator.
- AlgaFilm – Announced Bobby Levine as their new Chief Commercial Officer - Bobby founded
Digested Organics - A Mott Company
, which he grew to a successful exit. Welcome!
- Previsico – Highlighted in NextGen Communications for tech that’s reshaping flood risk mitigation. Partnering with insurers like Zurich and Liberty to minimize flood claims.
- Aqua Membranes – Launched a new ROI calculator to showcase the value of advanced reverse osmosis tech. A data-driven tool to support smarter water treatment decisions.
- Daupler – Energizing presence at APPA’s Engineering & Operations Conference. Strong engagement with public power professionals focused on grid resilience & operational excellence.
- Irrigreen – Featured in Axios and announced a Series A led by
Natural Ventures
and Burnt Island Ventures. Launched AI-powered quote tool to streamline precision irrigation adoption. Lots of good stuff in the funnel.
Work with the Burnt Islanders
- All open roles with the Burnt Islanders are advertised through the BIV Jobs Board which is accessible here
- Overall Pipeline: 1675 (+50)
- The vibes were high at SF Climate Week, DC Climate Week, and everywhere in between, and the sourcing opportunities have been plenty. Lots of passionate and compelling pitches from the next generation of water founders - many of whom are now in our pipeline.
- One standout theme: the dirty world of industrial wastewater treatment, from advanced analytics to tertiary treatment for emerging contaminants.
- An illuminating piece on the tariff impact on the US water supply chain.
- The visibility of the global subsidence issue has come to the fore. Houston, Tehran, 27 of the other largest US cities, it’s a massive issue.
- Not a good sign that the Indus Valley treaty may be under threat.
- Food for thought in this interesting analysis of Agtech and VC.
- Fascinating graphic from professional Cartographer Billy Roberts mapping data centers against water resources, fiber optic lines, transmission lines and urban areas. It’s impressive.
- Synagro, a composting company, just had their 10 yr contract, signed in 2019, cancelled because farmers are suing over getting compost that is contaminated with PFAS. Land application of biosolids, and restrictions on PFAS, are happening and it’s fascinating to see this start to play out. Read more here and here.
- Just a magnificent job from the team on the Founder Forum - particular kudos to
Jessica Pascolini
and
Marissa Sterling
- more on that in the next update, because it ruled. Like the Pink Pony Club.
-
Ioana Solomon
joined us as an intern, as she finishes-up her MBA at
Yale School of Management
, and she’s already making siginificant contributions with our Top of Funnel and company evaluations as she starts on her capstone project. Just wonderful to have her with us.
We’re Reading/Listening/Watching
*Very late - sorry about that.
