BIV Monthly Update LVII

Written By Tom Ferguson

BIV Monthly Update LVII – 7/14/25

“It’s Wednesday, David” Linus Larrabee, Sabrina

Highlights

  • The team is working so well at the moment, and I’m so proud of the concentrated effort of the whole team on the Platform side of the business, supporting the companies beyond the check. Too many examples to count. Our H1 metrics are looking very good indeed. 

  • Steve had an excellent visit to Flocean in Norway - quite the company they’re building, and they’re catching the eye of a lot of serious players. 

  • Christine crushed her repping of BIV both at ACE in Denver and at Climate Action Week in London. Global partnership coverage.

  • Turns out the Dolomites are everything they’re cracked up to be. So is Venice. Mystifyingly overlooked for the attendee list at Jeff and Lauren’s wedding, despite being there the same weekend. Next time…

July Asks

BIV Portfolio Updates

Fund I

  • 2S Water – Anthea joined the Tailings and Water Innovations Workshop in Toronto as a panelist. Making good moves in mining. Second unit in the field, new capital closed. 

  • Aclarity – Very positive recent board meeting, with strong commercial progress, and good runway. 

  • Aquafortus – Won Water Technology Idol at the Global Water Summit 2025 in Paris. Continuing to turn industry heads. 

  • Beagle Services – Great episode of In The Hot Seat with Casey Kempton. Their progress is also being noticed by some smart people…

  • CivilGrid – Very good argument indeed for the Series A. Josh working through it, and some big commercial announcements to come. 

  • Daupler –  Maintaining and expanding traction with Power IOUs. Record Q1 for new revenue and expansion. Good progress.

  • Floodbase – Great episode of Scaling AI with Bessie Schwarz in Forbes on using AI to close the flood protection gap. 

  • Irrigreen –  Fantastic interview with CEO Shane Dyer in Forbes Technology Council on bringing smart tech outdoors. Large partnerships progressing nicely. 

  • LAIIER – Solid commercial progress, and some larger projects to come. The base of data is strengthening by the week. 

  • NLine Energy – Big award for their Penn State project. Getting up and running in the EU. PPA funding vehicle signed. 3rd party manufacturer in place. Moves. 

  • SewerAI – Showcased the new Risk & Rehab module at PennTec 2025. Joined The Water Expo 2025 in Fort Lauderdale as a Bronze Sponsor. New monthly revenue record.

  • Shower Stream – Hopefully moving in on the endgame of the raise, which will put them in a good position.

  • Spout –  Reuben showing good process. Will restart delivery soon.

  • Ziptility – Some interesting larger contracts coming into focus, and benefits of the contract operator GtM very clear. This close to breakeven. 

  • ZwitterCo – Spotlight in both Smart Water Magazine and Ethanol Producer Magazine. Attended the International Cheese & Dairy Expo 2025 in the UK. Growing visibility in the industrial water space.

Fund II

  • AquiSense – Oliver presented at the 2025 IUVA Asian Pacific Symposium in Singapore. Andrea won the “Most Innovative Technology Award” at IFAT Brasil 2025. 

  • Aquatic Labs – Solid commercial progress, and market stabilising. 

  • Cala Systems – Getting very close to certification, $1.5m of $5m round still available (not sure for how much longer). 

  • HOPE Hydration – Announced partnership with Ocean Conservancy during Earth Month. Joined Pentair to provide filtered water along the MS 150 course. 

  • Subeca – Wrapped up a strong showing at ACE25 in Denver. Ahead of plan (again) for Q2. $1m left in current round. 

  • TeamSolve – Also present at ACE2025, with increased momentum behind their Generative AI platform.

  • Flocean – Erlend named a Top Presenter at Tech Tour Water Tech 2025 in Denmark. Alexander joined the (don’t) Waste Water podcast to discuss the case for subsea desal. First close of the round imminent

  • AlgaFilm – Excellent performance of their new fabric. Moving ahead with their first scaled pilot. 

  • Previsico – Shortlisted for two categories at the 2025 British Insurance Technology Awards. Presented at London Climate Action Week 2025 on advancing building resilience with street-level flood forecasting. Series A complete. 

  • Power & Water – Presented full-scale electrocoagulation insights at the European Wastewater Management Conference 2025.

  • Unannounced Water Utility Software Company - Celebrated with Current on the Chicago River, supporting H2NOW’s real-time water quality work. Also, joined our other portcos at ACE25.

OF I

  • Aqua Membranes – Additional capital close complete, and close to a second major distributor in Asia. Manufacturing facility coming along nicely. Good progress. 

  • Daupler –  Maintaining and expanding traction with Power IOUs. Record Q1 for new revenue and expansion. Good progress.

  • Irrigreen – Fantastic interview with CEO Shane Dyer in Forbes Technology Council on bringing smart tech outdoors. Large partnerships progressing nicely. 

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: 1784 (+30)

  • An interesting trend is emerging around biosecurity - testing industrial, commercial and municipal water for antimicrobial resistance and other contaminants of concern. We are keeping an eye on the major players here and what this may mean practically. Europe seems to be leading the charge.

  • We are also taking a deeper look at the ag-water nexus. This has long been a market segment with deep pain points (and huge water demand), but we have not yet seen a start-up successfully make and sell the economic argument. That may soon change. 

Market Insights

Team

  • Continuing to hustle, domestically and internationally. 

  • Looking forward to two announcements next month.

BIV Insight/Visibility

  • Steve hosted “Elements of an IP Plan” with Burnt Island Ventures, a focused session on strategic IP timing, protection, and competitive differentiation.

  • Christine attended Super Climate London during Climate Action Week.

We’re Reading/Listening/Watching

Things to Work On

  • Remembering that happiness is the difference between expectations and reality. Watch out for the former. 

  • Certain elements of the argument could be tighter - as we progress, so should how we present ourselves and the progress of this market. 

Tom Ferguson
Next

How Hiring a CFO Early Can Generate Millions in Returns