BIV Monthly Update LV

Monthly Updates

May 20

Written By Tom Ferguson

BIV Monthly Update LV – 5/20/25*

“I’ll be right baaaaackkkkk” Stuart “Stu” Macher, Scream

Highlights

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 SFCW. 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.

April Asks

Tune into a new episode of The Fundamental Molecule with Megan Glover - The Outside Becomes the Insider & Shane Dyer - Iteration, Hiring, and Customer Voice

Pre-order a Spout system. Buy an Irrigreen system. Pre-order a Cala Systems heat pump water heater. 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

Fund I

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.

Fund II

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, 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.

OF I

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

Company Pipeline

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.

Market Insights

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.

Team

Just a magnificent job from the team on the Founder Forum - particular kudos to Jessica and Marissa - 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, 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.

BIV Insight/Visibility

Great to have our piece featured in Fast Company highlighting our partnership with Xylem Innovation Labs and the excellent work they do as the leading CVC in water. Check out There’s a better way for companies to partner with startups.
Why We Invested in AquiSense - an excellent piece from SK.
In our latest blog post, Jennie shares how evaluating a startup’s product reveals far more than features, it shows how a founder thinks. Read: Beyond Bells and Whistles.
SK will be a font of wisdom at a virtual panel discussion as part of Chicago Water Week
CB & SK will be headed to the Global Water Summit in Paris - a headline industry event
CB had a stellar time at the Y Combinator 20th Anniversary party. Just so cool for her to send us a picture with none other than PG, to whom we owe a profound intellectual debt.
I was insanely lucky to be on Necker Island to represent water with ONEFUTURE and Litestream. Pinch yerself kinda stuff.
Celebrating AWWA National Drinking Water Week this week.

We’re Reading/Listening/Watching

David Senra and Michael Ovitz on ILTB. Garry Tan and Elad Gil on The Knowledge Project.
Reflecting on the MAYA principle, aka “Most Advanced. Yet Acceptable.” It’s truly timeless. With thanks to Michael Rigney at Cala.
Every podcast that drops on Antoine Walter’s (don’t) Water Water! podcast - Antoine’s preparation and probing questions are impressive.
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
Interesting commentary from CTVC on the April 28th 10-hour power outage across the Iberian Peninsula that impacted water service, wastewater treatment, and the lives of millions.