TSP Ventures
TSP Ventures is a London-based, early-stage venture capital firm backing hard-science startups that tackle climate and environmental problems. TSP's water work sits inside a broader deep-tech thesis spanning energy, food, water, critical materials and waste. As of 2026 it has backed two water companies across three rounds.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
TSP Ventures backs the hard, lab-born science most investors find too technical to touch, and a surprising amount of it turns out to be about water. Founded in London in 2019 by Chris Smith and Mike Doswell, two former BGC Partners dealmakers, the firm hunts for IP-rich startups (heavy on patents) across energy, food and water, critical materials, carbon and waste. Its house style even has a name, venture then nurture: invest early, then stay close and help founders drag a technology out of the lab and into a real market.
TSP Ventures keeps a consistent water pattern: find a patented process, back it at the earliest stage, and stay in for the long climb to commercial scale. TSP Ventures has backed two water companies across three funding rounds so far. Wastewater Fuels runs microbial electrolysis cells, electrodes colonised by living microbes, to clean wastewater while generating green hydrogen; Envorem uses high-energy water cavitation to strip oil out of contaminated sludge and soil. Both are the unglamorous, infrastructure-adjacent chemistry TSP gravitates toward, and TSP tends to lead the rounds it joins rather than ride along behind a bigger name.
As of 2026, TSP Ventures launched its first EIS fund, the Pathfinder Fund, a structure built to close deals faster and put fresh capital to work each tax year. EIS, the UK's Enterprise Investment Scheme, gives private investors generous tax relief for backing young companies, and it is the rail most of TSP's money rides. For a newcomer hunting early-stage water bets in Britain, TSP is one of the few generalist deep-tech funds that keeps turning up as an early backer of water companies.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does TSP Ventures invest in?
- TSP Ventures backs early-stage, hard-science startups tackling climate and environmental challenges across energy, food and water, critical materials, carbon and waste. In water it has funded patented technologies for wastewater treatment and contaminated-water clean-up, typically at the pre-seed and seed stage.
- Who runs TSP Ventures?
- TSP Ventures was founded in 2019 by Chris Smith, its CEO, and Mike Doswell, its Chief Investment Officer, both former dealmakers at BGC Partners. They lead a small London-based investment team that works hands-on with portfolio founders under the firm's venture then nurture approach.
- Where is TSP Ventures based?
- TSP Ventures is based in London, United Kingdom, and invests mainly in UK and European hard-science startups. It runs as an early-stage venture capital firm and, from 2026, deploys through its first EIS fund, the Pathfinder Fund, which raises capital each tax year.
- How many water companies has TSP Ventures backed?
- As of 2026, TSP Ventures has backed two water companies across three funding rounds: Wastewater Fuels, which turns wastewater into green hydrogen, and Envorem, which uses water cavitation to clean oil-contaminated sludge and soil.
- Is TSP Ventures the same as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)?
- No. TSP Ventures is a London-based climate and deep-tech venture capital firm. It is unrelated to the US federal Thrift Savings Plan, the government retirement programme also abbreviated TSP. The two share only the initials.