MANN+HUMMEL
MANN+HUMMEL is a German filtration manufacturer whose corporate venture arm backs early- and growth-stage water-technology startups. Its bets cluster around membranes, desalination, and water reuse, the same filtration core the 1941-founded company sells. As of 2026, the Leviathan database tracks three water companies across five deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
MANN+HUMMEL has been making filters since 1941, when it began supplying the German auto industry from Ludwigsburg, and today it is one of the world's larger filtration groups. Its membrane and water-treatment business is what pulls the company toward water startups, through a strategic venture arm called MANN+HUMMEL Ventures rather than a financial-return fund chasing whatever sector is hot.
MANN+HUMMEL Ventures is the company's corporate venture capital arm (CVC means the investor spends its own balance sheet, not an independent fund raising money from outside backers), and it sorts its hunt into four themes it labels cleaner air, water, mobility, and industry. In water the pattern is consistent: MANN+HUMMEL backs companies whose technology sits right next to its own, from ZwitterCo's fouling-resistant nanofiltration membranes to Oneka Technologies' wave-powered desalination buoys and Uviquity's UV disinfection chips.
MANN+HUMMEL differs from a purely financial investor because it can be a startup's customer as well as its shareholder. Through what it calls venture clienting, MANN+HUMMEL pilots a young company's technology inside its own global operations, so a portfolio bet doubles as a route to market. For a founder, that industrial channel is often worth more than the cheque.
MANN+HUMMEL's water portfolio, in the Leviathan database, runs to three companies across five deals, typically entered at the seed and Series A stage, while across all four themes the wider portfolio tops a dozen startups. The most recent water move I can date is the 2025 seed round for Uviquity, which tells me MANN+HUMMEL still writes early cheques when the technology maps onto its filtration core.
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 MANN+HUMMEL invest in?
- MANN+HUMMEL invests through MANN+HUMMEL Ventures, its corporate venture arm, in early- and growth-stage startups across four themes: cleaner air, water, mobility, and industry. In water it backs filtration, membrane, desalination, and disinfection companies whose technology complements its own products.
- Is MANN+HUMMEL a venture capital firm?
- MANN+HUMMEL is primarily a German filtration manufacturer founded in 1941, not a standalone fund. Its investing runs through MANN+HUMMEL Ventures, a corporate venture arm that deploys the company's own capital into strategic startups rather than raising money from outside investors.
- What water companies has MANN+HUMMEL backed?
- MANN+HUMMEL has backed water startups including ZwitterCo, which makes fouling-resistant nanofiltration membranes, Oneka Technologies, which builds wave-powered desalination buoys, and Uviquity, which develops UV disinfection chips. The Leviathan database tracks three water companies across five deals.
- Who runs MANN+HUMMEL Ventures?
- MANN+HUMMEL Ventures is led by Christine Tandon as Global Director, with an investment team based largely in North Carolina, United States, alongside the group's headquarters in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The arm sits inside MANN+HUMMEL's broader innovation and partnerships organisation.
- Where is MANN+HUMMEL based?
- MANN+HUMMEL is headquartered in Ludwigsburg, Germany, where the filtration group was founded in 1941. Its corporate venture team operates substantially from North Carolina in the United States, reflecting where much of its startup dealflow and water portfolio sits.