BIV Monthly Update LII
BIV Monthly Update LII – 2/7/2024
“It’s like in chess. First you strategically position your pieces…” David Levinson, Independence Day
Highlights
Delighted to welcome AlgaFilm to the Burnt Island. Read Steve’s predictably excellent “Why we invested in…” article.
Huge deal for SwiftComply - enormous congratulations to Mick & the team. LAIIER announced their $4m Seed extension (oversubscribed). HOPE agreed a fourth eyebrow-raising deal in two months. Cala are approaching 4,000 pre-orders. Floodbase did this which is huge.
Excellent partner meeting, and dinner with current & prospective LPs in NYC (delicious).
An interesting introduction to the World Economic Forum. Litestream’s Family Office event was very good indeed - though I failed to hang out with Deepak Chopra which left me way more stressed than I assume I would have been if I had met him. Shout out to Swiss public transport, which is truly lit.
Not really a highlight - but food for thought about future competition. The US announced $500bn for Stargate. China announced DeepSeek and a $137bn dam project in Tibet. A timely reminder that it’s little wonder that China has always been so resistant to the independence of the 2nd largest reservoir in the world. You thought it was about cultural heritage?
An absolutely ripping 40th birthday celebration. Huge thanks to Ruki, and not least for her amazing toast, and to everyone for coming.
February Asks
Tune into a new episode of The Fundamental Molecule with Mudasser Iqbal - AI, Water and Institutional Memory
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
Seed I
2S Water – First purchase order secured for a commercial unit (large end user in the Middle East seawater desalination sector) and a growing pipeline of commercial demos in lithium and mining. High value process optimization is going to be big business.
Aclarity – Included on the 2025 Global Cleantech 100 list, compiled by the Cleantech Group. Water has 7 companies on the list, up from 1 last year. Right direction…
Aquafortus – The pilot continues to nail the proof points for the tech. Will be so vital as the US energy landscape shifts. Round open.
Beagle Services – Do you need more than this testimonial?
CivilGrid – Psomas, Public Safety Towers, SPEC Services, Schaaf & Wheeler, Wallace Group, and San Jose Water chose CivilGrid this month. Momentum building.
Daupler – Head of Marketing in place (at long last), excellent early sales pace, especially from an increasingly restless group of power IOUs who desire Daupler greatly.
Floodbase – Liberty Mutual Re’s spotlights the growth of parametric flood coverage, powered by Floodbase. Big opportunities ahead as they expand coverage across the U.S. and beyond.
Irrigreen – Very sensible call on sales structure. More amazing contractor data and momentum. Hardware work exceptional. Closing in on Series A.
LAIIER – Welcomed a new VP of Marketing, Laura Lilienthal - great start to the year.
NLine Energy – Welcoming Katie Bickford as Chief Commercial Officer. 20 years of success under her belt, she’ll take NLine global. Big moves ahead.
SewerAI – Participated in NEWEA 2025 in Boston, MA. Good start to the year.
Shower Stream – Continuing to deepen the ESA relationship.
Spout – Strong project on manufacturing despite being in the heart of LA. True perseverance here as they prepare to ship.
SwiftComply – Kicking off 2025 with a major milestone! Partnering with M33 Growth to scale impact and expand capabilities across North America. MASSIVE congratulations to Mick and the team.
Ziptility – Participated in the first big event of 2025 at Indiana Rural Water Day. Working on a big moment for the company, to be completed imminently.
ZwitterCo – Also selected by CleanTech Group for their 2025 Cleantech 100 list. Case studies ramping…
Seed II
Aquatic Labs – Launched First-ever solid-state Total Alkalinity sensor. Game changer
Cala Systems – Launched new blog site. First post is showcasing their mission for a more sustainable future. Getting on for 4,000 pre-orders ($10m+ in order value).
HOPE Hydration – Great visit to their manufacturing site. Jorge is doing an excellent job setting them up to scale. Exciting announcement incoming.
Subeca – IoT Business Impact Award from IoT Evolution for innovative Subeca Smart Water Metering Solution. Job well done.
TeamSolve – Good work on the GtM. Mudasser’s pod is great (see above).
Flocean - Making remarkable headway. Some of the best execution we have seen. Check out Alexander’s pod with Antoine Walter.
Algafilm - Strong start. Interesting early traction in their home market (and beyond). Escalating interest in N and P removal.
OF I
Aqua Membranes – Announced partnership with Osmoflo bringing their technology to Australia and New Zealand. Work with partners who write this about you. Their pipeline is excellent.
Daupler – Head of Marketing in place (at long last), excellent early sales pace, especially from an increasingly restless group of power IOUs.
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: 1516 (+20)
Lots of opportunities coming into focus around optimizing utility operations and distribution network design and management. AI will have a big role to play here, as with many parts of the water value chain.
Groundwater management is another space where we continue to hunt for the one. So many problems to solve, so many brilliant minds coming to that realization.
Team
2025 Goals in place. Not a sandbag in sight.
So much good long-range planning in place, from our first Impact Report, to the AGM and the Founder Forum.
BIV Insight/Visibility
Something to start the year: The Folly of Prediction, Things That Don’t Change, and a Few Predictions From Us Anyway. One of them became true rather faster than anticipated.
Squad Goals - Part 2 of Show Your Working: Understanding Our Due Diligence Process, an excellent piece from Jennie on the importance of people and team.
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We’re Reading/Listening/Watching
Our thoughts go out to the citizens of Los Angeles, and those fighting the fires. Zero vibes to those who tried to play politics and blame water professionals.
We’re talking about The Psychology of Human Misjudgment as a team on Monday.
China is planning a dam project in Tibet 3x the size of the three Gorges for $137bn.
Badger Meter’s $185m acquisition of SmartCover. Excellent reward for a job well done by Corey the CEO and XPV. Props also to Sciens selling CROM Corporation. Bravo Alex and team.
Of course, DeepSeek: Swim in Different Waters. See also a very angry and articulate Ed Zitron. It will be fascinating to see how the AI wars pan out.
DuPont’s flushes plan to spin out water treatment group - sensibly deciding against foregoing the growth to come.
Two regions in Italy, Puglia (population 4m) and Sardinia (population 1.6m) in major drought
Cyprus drought is leading to bidding on interim emergency desalination solutions.
Flood risk is on the rise in the UK - and yes, climate change is the driver.
Microplastics and the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD)
Fire and floods: the rise of climate whiplash from the FT.
It was the hottest January on record, and this gave me the heeby-jeebies.
Martyr by Kaveh Akbar was disliked by people I respect, but liked by me.
Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Igawa is a lovely, gentle read (so far, could get Jack-Reacher-levels-of-messy I guess but it would be quite the left turn…).
Things to Work On
There are new process items where I need to be ruthless with myself. New year, New Tom.
Thanks so much as ever.
