kopa ventures
kopa ventures is a German climate-tech venture capital firm that backs early-stage European startups in energy, mobility, nature, and carbon technology. Founded in 2017 by juwi co-founder Matthias Willenbacher, it is a generalist climate fund, not a water specialist. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 water companies across 3 deals and rates its water commitment Committed.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
kopa ventures is a climate-tech fund, not a water fund, and that gap is the first thing worth understanding about it. Based in Berlin, kopa backs early-stage European startups across energy, mobility, nature, and carbon technology, and water shows up as a thread inside that wider climate thesis, not as the headline.
kopa ventures did not start as a finance shop. It began life as WI Venture, the investment vehicle of Matthias Willenbacher, the physicist who co-founded juwi, one of Germany's largest renewable-energy developers, before he turned to backing the next generation of climate founders. That operator-to-investor lineage is why kopa thinks in megawatts and emissions curves first, and writes its cheques for climate-positive impact, not returns alone.
kopa ventures' water exposure is the kind a newcomer would miss, because none of it looks like pipes or treatment plants. The fund's water bets are AI software that helps utilities and industry see water they cannot otherwise measure: Pluvion, whose WATER+ platform spots and predicts the stray groundwater leaking into sewer networks and inflating treatment bills; and Tova Earth, whose models forecast a facility's water risk before it bites. Across 2 water companies and 3 deals, kopa has so far joined rounds rather than led them.
kopa ventures runs its money through the kopa Climate Fund, an Article 8 vehicle under the EU's sustainable-finance rules, writing pre-seed and seed cheques from offices in Berlin, Munich, Mainz, and London. For someone new to water, kopa is a useful reminder that some of the most practical water technology is funded by generalist climate investors, filed under energy or data rather than water, and that the label on a fund tells you less than the companies inside it.
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 kopa ventures invest in?
- kopa ventures invests in early-stage European climate-tech startups across four areas: energy, mobility, nature, and carbon technology. It writes pre-seed and seed cheques for companies cutting emissions and resource use. Its water-relevant bets sit inside that climate mandate, backing AI software for water monitoring rather than treatment hardware. (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 such water companies.
- Is kopa ventures a water fund?
- kopa ventures is not a water fund. It is a generalist climate-tech investor, and water is one thread inside a portfolio built around energy, mobility, nature, and carbon. Its water exposure is digital: software that detects sewer infiltration or forecasts industrial water risk, rather than the treatment or utility deals a dedicated water fund chases.
- Who runs kopa ventures?
- kopa ventures was initiated by Matthias Willenbacher, the physicist who co-founded the renewable-energy giant juwi. Day to day, the firm is led by Managing Partner Luis Sperr alongside Principals Marius Weckel and Benjamin Wochner, with Associates Clara Wat and Elzan Godlewski completing a small Berlin-based investment team.
- Where is kopa ventures based?
- kopa ventures is based in Berlin, Germany, with additional offices in Munich, Mainz, and London. Founded in 2017 as WI Venture, the investment vehicle of juwi co-founder Matthias Willenbacher, the firm invests across Europe and runs its climate-tech portfolio from the German capital.
- How many water deals has kopa ventures done?
- kopa ventures has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals, both at pre-seed and seed stage, and has so far joined rounds rather than led them. The two are Pluvion, an AI sewer-water detection platform, and Tova Earth, which forecasts facility water risk. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.