Bethnal Green Ventures
Bethnal Green Ventures is a London-based tech-for-good venture capital firm and accelerator that backs early-stage startups using technology to tackle social and environmental problems. In water it is a rare backer: as of June 2026 the Leviathan database tracks one water company in its portfolio, the aeroponic vertical-farm maker LettUs Grow, across two seed rounds.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Bethnal Green Ventures is one of the oldest names in European tech for good, and it runs more like an accelerator than a classic fund. Since 2012, BGV has put founders through a structured programme out of East London, writing a standard early cheque, currently sixty thousand pounds for roughly seven percent, into people using technology to fix a social or environmental problem. Paul Miller, who co-founded BGV and has championed tech for good since 2008, still runs it as Managing Partner and CEO.
Bethnal Green Ventures is now deploying its second institutional fund, BGV II LP. The firm announced a £33M first close in November 2023 on the way to a £50M target, backed by the British Business Bank, M&G Catalyst and Big Society Capital, and set out to put one hundred new ventures through the programme over four years, at least half of them founded by women. That programme is the engine that decides what BGV backs, water included.
Water, for Bethnal Green Ventures, is incidental rather than a thesis. Across everything I have logged in the Leviathan database, BGV's water exposure is a single company, LettUs Grow, the Bristol startup whose aeroponic vertical-farm systems mist plant roots instead of flooding fields, backed across two seed rounds with the last in 2020. (don't) Waste Water rates BGV's water commitment One-Off. For a newcomer mapping who actually writes water cheques, file Bethnal Green Ventures as a tech-for-good generalist where water arrives sideways, through food, climate and agriculture, not as a fund hunting water deals.
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 · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Bethnal Green Ventures invest in?
- Bethnal Green Ventures invests in early-stage tech-for-good startups, founders using technology to tackle social and environmental problems across health, sustainability, climate and inclusion. It backs them through a structured accelerator programme rather than one-off deals. In water specifically BGV is an occasional backer, with one water company tracked in the Leviathan database as of 2026.
- Does Bethnal Green Ventures invest in water?
- Bethnal Green Ventures invests in water only rarely. Its water exposure is a single tracked company, LettUs Grow, whose aeroponic vertical-farm systems mist plant roots to grow food with far less water. With one water company across two seed rounds and no new water deal since 2020, (don't) Waste Water rates BGV's water commitment One-Off.
- Who runs Bethnal Green Ventures?
- Bethnal Green Ventures is led by co-founder Paul Miller OBE, its Managing Partner and CEO, who has championed tech for good since 2008. The investment team also includes Managing Partner Melanie Hayes, Investment Principal Nelly Lavielle, and Dama Sathianathan, the Head of Origination who leads BGV's deal flow.
- How much does Bethnal Green Ventures invest?
- Bethnal Green Ventures makes a standard early-stage investment of sixty thousand pounds for roughly seven percent equity in each startup that joins its Tech for Good Programme, then follows on into the most promising. The cheques come from BGV II LP, a fund that announced a £33M first close in November 2023 on the way to a £50M target.
- Is Bethnal Green Ventures a water-focused fund?
- No. Bethnal Green Ventures is a generalist tech-for-good venture firm and accelerator based in East London, not a water specialist. Water reaches its portfolio sideways, through food, agriculture and climate startups such as LettUs Grow, rather than through a dedicated water thesis. The Leviathan database tracks one water company in its book.