Scale Capital
Scale Capital is a Nordic venture capital (VC) firm, founded in Copenhagen in 2012, that backs deep-tech founders building what it calls critical technologies, across defense, digital infrastructure, energy and climate. Its water exposure runs through climate-resilience bets like flood-risk analytics. As of June 2026 it has backed 2 water companies, and (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Scale Capital's whole identity is a bridge, not a sector. Lars Jensen and Kenneth Grunow co-founded it in Copenhagen in 2012 with one stubborn idea: take Nordic deep-tech founders and help them actually win in the United States, the market where most European startups quietly stall. Water was never the thesis here; it arrives sideways, through the firm's climate and digital-infrastructure lane.
Scale Capital today frames itself around critical technologies, the kind it argues Europe and the world will end up depending on, spanning defense, next-generation digital infrastructure, energy and climate. For a water newcomer, the useful translation is that Scale Capital buys the picks and shovels of resilience, not the water itself. So the two water names in its portfolio are best read as climate-infrastructure bets that happen to point at water, rather than a deliberate water strategy.
Scale Capital backed 7Analytics, a Norwegian startup whose software models flood risk street by street so cities and insurers can see where the water will actually go. It also put money into ColloidTek, a Finnish company whose sensors read what is dissolved in a liquid in real time, a quiet but foundational tool for anyone trying to monitor or treat water. Both bets landed in 2024, both are Nordic, and both fit the firm's pattern of aiming European deep tech squarely at the US market.
Scale Capital is, for a water reader, a generalist with two toes in the water, and (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed as of June 2026. The open question is whether the climate-and-resilience corner of the portfolio keeps pulling the fund toward water, or stays a footnote to a defense-and-infrastructure book. Either way, when a Nordic water-tech founder wants a credible path into America, Scale Capital is one of the few funds built expressly for that trip.
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 Scale Capital invest in?
- Scale Capital invests in early-stage Nordic and European deep-tech companies it calls critical technologies, spanning defense, digital infrastructure, energy and climate. It backs founders from Late-Seed to Series B and is known for helping Nordic startups expand into the United States. Its water exposure comes through climate and digital-infrastructure deals.
- Is Scale Capital a water fund?
- Scale Capital is not a water-only fund; it is a generalist Nordic deep-tech venture firm. Its water footprint is two climate-and-resilience investments: 7Analytics in flood-risk analytics and ColloidTek in liquid analysis. (don't) Waste Water rates its overall water commitment Committed as of June 2026.
- Who runs Scale Capital?
- Scale Capital was co-founded in Copenhagen in 2012 by Lars Jensen, its Founding Partner, and Kenneth Grunow, its General Partner. The investment team also includes Principals Joachim Schelde and Terkel Douglas, working across the firm's Copenhagen, Stockholm and Silicon Valley offices.
- Where is Scale Capital based?
- Scale Capital is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with additional offices in Stockholm and Palo Alto in Silicon Valley. Founded in 2012, the firm invests across the Nordics and Europe while using its US presence to help portfolio companies enter the American market.
- What water companies has Scale Capital backed?
- Scale Capital has backed 2 water-relevant companies: 7Analytics, a Norwegian startup that models flood risk to help cities and insurers prepare, and ColloidTek (Collo), a Finnish firm whose sensors analyze liquids in real time for industrial and water-monitoring use.