BIV Monthly Update LXIV

BIV Monthly Update LXIV – 2/22/26

“Course it’s a good idea!” God, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Highlights

• Putting together the argument for What Happened in Water in 2025 with the team, as well as constructing our Update on Growth Fund I for Prospective LPs (pw required). Both yielded great sessions, and it was great fun to go through the process to find the flow. 

• Seeing the lightbulbs REALLY come on in the mainstream funding market for a couple of open rounds. It’s an important milestone for the portfolio, and it will be interesting to see where the deals land. 

• Phenomenal to see Algafilm go live on their Kingsville site. Such a dramatic milestone achieved so cost-effectively. Spectacular work from the team.  

• It’s been so great to watch a few companies turn corners at the start of this year, and move through and out of tricky periods. I am in awe of the founders who have done such a great job steering their ships, and of their teams. Hats off. 

• Being level with the rim, directly side-on in the Nets stadium to see Lebron just crush a dunk from essentially the free throw line - I hadn’t seen him play since 2012, and he’s still quite something. The Nets lost. 

February Asks

• Tune into new episodes of The Fundamental Molecule: Ep 47: Christopher Gasson - Building the Source of Truth for the Water Sector and Ep. 48: Mike Shaw - From Accidental Chemist to PFAS Destruction CEO.  

• Buy an Irrigreen system. Buy a Cala Systems heat pump water heater. Buy an AquiSense water disinfection system, also available at Lowes. Use Beagle to install a home shutoff valve. 

• Point the smartest people you know to the BIV Jobs Board or talent network.

BIV Portfolio Updates

Seed Fund I

• 2S Water – Recognized as a Top 10 Women Led Impact Venture in 2026, is driving market visibility with its AquaValid technology being highlighted for revolutionizing zinc exploration at the AME conference.

• Aclarity – CEO of Aclarity, Mike Shaw on The Fundamental Molecule. Great commercial progress, and what looks like a tech breakthrough. Kudos. 

• Aquafortus – Welcome to Hoshang Subawalla (CEO) and Iris Jancik (CRO) - transformational additions to the team. HUGE applause to Jim Newman for the job he has done and continues to do. Hats off. Included in the Global Cleantech 100 and prominent at the 36th Annual Produced Water Society Conference.

• Beagle Services – Features in Home and Gardens and U.S. News & World Report, highlighting Beagle’s smart leak sensors and impact homeowners insurance.

• CivilGrid – Open Positions at CivilGrid. Run, don’t walk - it’s go-time for Josh and the crew. 

• Daupler – On the floor at DTECH in San Diego in early February, and a mention in a Factor This article on improving utility distribution planning for better resiliency and restoration. Processed 1m emergencies last year. Insane. 

• Floodbase – Expanding its market presence in parametric flood insurance, launching an exclusive solution in the USA with major partners Burns & Wilcox and Atain Insurance, and Europe's largest parametric portfolio policy in Italy already triggering. 

• Irrigreen –  Featured in a Green Industry Pros article about The Next Wave of Technology Adoption in Landscaping. Some great announcements coming in the next six weeks. 

• LAIIER – Showcased their innovative IoT technology in collaboration with RAKwireless at CES 2026 in early January. 

• NLine Energy – Excellent board meeting in Miami. Fuel for growth secured, and the pipeline is looking very healthy indeed. So many dollars just lying on the floor of basically every industrial boiler-room. 

• SewerAI – Repping at the NYWEA 98th Annual Conference in late January, welcoming new team members, and lighting up a Forbes article "2026: The Year AI Becomes Non-Negotiable In Underground Infrastructure"

• Spout –  Massive step forward as they closed their Seed. Beyond breakeven for the last 3 months. We build. 

• Ziptility – Fully profitable, and promising signs from new GtM motion in the contract operator space. Lots to come from this crew. 

• ZwitterCo – Recognized in the Global Cleantech 100, presence at IFAT Saudi Arabia, a feature in a Dairy Foods article, and the launch of a new podcast: ZwitterCo Unfiltered: Real Talk on Membrane Filtration. Listen to Episode 1: Why Anti-Fouling Membranes Are Changing Protein Processing. Welcome to the pod game, squad. 

Seed Fund II

• AquiSense – Continue to build their lead in UV-C. Celebrated 10 years in Northern Kentucky at BE NKY Growth Partnership’s annual event. 

• Cala Systems – Completed their move out of Greentown labs, and great to be featured on The Cool Down highlighting the business case of the unit. Oversubscribing their Seed II to build inventory ahead of a Q2 demand jump. 

• CREW Carbon – Picked up by the Boston Globe: “Could your city’s sewage capture carbon? A New Haven startup is putting it to the test.”

• Current Software – On track to be the fastest BIV company to $1m ARR. VERY solid work.

• Epoch – Just amazing speed to global supply chain coverage. Working an insider Seed to push to the next stage with no interruption. 

• HOPE Hydration – Named to Inc. Magazine Best in Business 2025 list, and one of the 20 South Florida startups to watch in 2026. Mighty impressive. 

• Subeca – Cedarware and Subeca Deploy Ultrasonic Cooling Water Flow Meter Across UK and India. VERY fast start to the year, and will do well in excess of $5m this year. Series A-2 is open. 

• TeamSolve – Featured in a Powerhouse Ventures article: “The Hidden Bottlenecks in Energy Field Operations and How LLMs Can Help”

• Flocean – Winner of the World Economic Forum and HCL Enterprise Water Resilience Challenge. Much coverage of the 2026 launch of their world's first subsea desalination facility in Mongstad Norway, as well as a feature in Wellers Impact discussing water investment. 3DVF also recognising the skillz. 

• AlgaFilm – Check out this time-lapse from the Kingsville Greenhouse Construction. What Algae Taught Me About Oxygen. AWESOME to have Kingsville live, the team’s efficiency is mind-boggling. 

• Previsico – Strengthened its flood forecasting capabilities with a new CTO hire, and its CEO has stated that 2026 will be a pivotal year for the flood insurance industry. 

• Power & Water – Proud Winners at the Global Prize in Water Innovation (GPIW) . Excellent momentum across their pipeline. 

• Waterly – Strengthening the team with a new Director of Operations and expanding its reach through a new partnership with the National Rural Water Association (NRWA).

Growth Fund I

• Aqua Membranes – Increasing its industry visibility with its CEO and CTO presenting at key events like the Cleantech Forum and AWWA’s Membrane Technology Conference. Momentum continues to build, and a HUGE technical leap forward is imminent. 

• Daupler –  More visibility with participation at the DTECH conference in San Diego in early February, and a mention in a Factor This article on improving utility distribution planning for better resiliency and restoration. 

• Irrigreen – Featured in a Green Industry Pros article about The Next Wave of Technology Adoption in Landscaping. Some great announcements coming in the next six weeks. 

Company Pipeline

• Overall Pipeline: 2209 (+65)

• With the new year in full swing, pipeline activity has ramped up, with strong opportunities across water quality sensing and community health, climate risk, and infrastructure asset management. Demand for the remaining Fund II slots is high, and our investment bar remains selective.

Market Insights

• NYT Opinion | This is Why Our Rivers Are Turning Into Sewers

• Mobiltex Announces Strategic Acquisition of Watering Software to Expand Flopath Business Group

• Dramatic rise in water-related violence recorded since 2022

• ​​Water tech funding activity rises 20% in 2025

• Abu Dhabi: $2 billion initiative unveiled to support impactful water development projects worldwide by 2030

Team

• Welcome to Lulu Louchheim, Aryan Shanker and Zaq Asuamah who are all interning with the BIV Platform this semester. A stellar set of students who are already off to the races.

BIV Insight/Visibility

• Mind the Market - Show Your Working: Understanding our DD Process

• Why We’re Building Our First Growth Fund  

• Steve at Innovation in Water: a Glimpse at the Leading Edge, Jan 15

• Jennie at the Duke Climate Tech Symposium, Jan 28

• Christine at the Women's Venture Capital Summit, Feb 2-4 

• Thanks to team at Climate VC for including us in The 2026 US Climate VC Landscape is Exploding

• Thanks to Rhea Bhansali for the kind post - Last week I had the opportunity to attend two important conversations shaping how we think about risk, capital, and infrastructure going into 2026 

• Fun to be included in Water tech funding activity rose 20% in 2025

• We have to agree with Karen Sumie Runde here  - Where can my capital create the biggest impact?

We’re Reading/Listening/Watching

• Fairly evident a rubicon is being crossed in the practical applications of AI. It’s not JUST this that set the internet on fire, but it’s also corroborated by various conversations. We’re structurally in a great position, and it will be fascinating to watch this play out. 

• Definitely catch Priya Parker and Anand Giridharadas (married, I hear?) on Ezra Klein. SO different and SO good. 

• Such a great interview of Patrick O’Shaughnessy (FINALLY), and Ben Thompson with John Collison is quite the meeting of minds (Cheeky Pint is great). 

• A pleasure to catch Anna Christie at St Anne’s Warehouse. What a space, and Michelle Williams so impressive. 

• Excellent new series of The Pitt and Shrinking.

Opportunities

• Foresight Canada: Cleantech Accelerations Program (deadline: rolling)  

• Forest Valley Institute’s Sandbox Program: Climate Tech Startup Accelerator (deadline: rolling)

• Samnam Ventures’ Accelerating Water Innovation Program (deadline: rolling)

• TTI x SAP: Water Resilience & Efficiency Challenge (deadline: rolling)

• Global Water Awards (deadline for nomination: February 27, 2026)

• ClimAccelerator - Scaling Start-Ups for Climate Impact (regional program options)

• Open Call: Global Ocean Innovation Challenge (deadline: Feb 6)

• Go Make – Greentown Labs (deadline: March 10)

Things to Work On

• Fundraising (yawn - all referrals very welcome. Growth Fund I is shaping up so nicely). 

• Like all white collar jobs, interesting and increasingly urgent questions being posed by AI. We’re ahead of the game thanks to our amazing team, but still work to do. 

Thanks so much as ever.