WaterEquity
WaterEquity is a Kansas City based impact investment manager that channels private capital into water and sanitation across emerging and frontier markets. Co-founded by Gary White and the actor Matt Damon of Water.org, it invests in financial institutions, water enterprises, and infrastructure. As of 2026 it manages over $470 million across five funds.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
WaterEquity is the investment arm of an idea that began as a charity. Gary White and the actor Matt Damon spent years at the nonprofit Water.org proving that the world's poorest families will repay small loans to connect a tap or a toilet, and in 2016 they spun that proof into a fund that asks institutional investors to back the same bet for a return. The thesis is that water and sanitation in emerging markets is an investable asset class, not an aid line.
WaterEquity puts money to work in three places: the financial institutions that on-lend to households for water and toilet connections, the enterprises that build the hardware, and the infrastructure that moves water at scale. It concentrates on frontier markets like India, Indonesia, Cambodia and Kenya, the places where the need is sharpest and commercial capital is thinnest. Its model is to invest where ordinary money rarely goes, then prove the returns are real.
As of 2026 WaterEquity is climbing the risk curve. It named Marlene Hormes chief investment officer in 2024 and brought in Aleem Remtula to lead a new private equity and infrastructure strategy in early 2025, and its Water and Climate Resilience Fund, backed by names like Microsoft, Starbucks and Xylem, made its first investment under that strategy into SunCulture, a Kenyan solar irrigation company. The firm is widening from microfinance debt into direct equity and infrastructure.
WaterEquity is not a typical venture fund, and a newcomer should read it that way. It measures success in people reached, a reported nine million and counting, as much as in returns, and most of its capital flows through local lenders rather than splashy startup rounds. For an impact-curious investor it is one of the few places where a water-and-sanitation return and a development outcome are the same trade. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.
On the show
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 · 3 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does WaterEquity invest in?
- WaterEquity is an impact investment manager that finances water and sanitation in emerging and frontier markets. It invests across three channels: financial institutions that on-lend to low-income households, water enterprises, and infrastructure. Its work spans markets like India, Indonesia, Cambodia and Kenya, pairing development impact with risk-adjusted financial returns for institutional investors.
- Who founded WaterEquity, and is Matt Damon really involved?
- WaterEquity was co-founded by Gary White and the actor Matt Damon, the same pair behind the water nonprofit Water.org. WaterEquity is the for-profit investment arm of that work, launched in 2016 to channel private capital into water access, while Water.org remains the charity. Matt Damon is a genuine co-founder, not a day-to-day investor.
- Where is WaterEquity based?
- WaterEquity is based in Kansas City, Missouri, the same city as its affiliated nonprofit Water.org. The firm runs a globally distributed team with staff across the United States, India, Kenya and other emerging markets where it invests, but its headquarters and senior leadership sit in Kansas City.
- Who runs WaterEquity?
- WaterEquity is led by President and CEO Paul O'Connell, who joined in 2019 from FDO Partners, alongside Chief Investment Officer Marlene Hormes, appointed in 2024. Aleem Remtula heads its private equity and infrastructure investments. Co-founder Gary White, who also leads Water.org, remains the public face of the firm.
- How many water companies has WaterEquity backed?
- WaterEquity has backed three water companies across three deals in the (don't) Waste Water database: Organica Water, the Kenyan solar irrigation company SunCulture, and Megaliter Varunaa. Beyond those direct deals, it reports reaching more than nine million people with water or sanitation, largely by lending through local financial institutions.