Better Ventures stands at the intersection of breakthrough technology and environmental impact, wielding a $32M fund to nurture water innovations that matter. From their Oakland headquarters, founding partners Rick Moss and Wes Selke have crafted an investment thesis that zeros in on water data analytics, sustainable solutions, and transformative technologies. With typical investments ranging from $500K to $1M in pre-seed and seed rounds, they’re not just writing checks – they’re actively leading the charge toward a water-secure future. Their approach combines rigorous due diligence with a passionate commitment to supporting founders who leverage AI, software, and materials science to tackle critical water challenges.
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Investor Name: Better Ventures
Investor Type: VC
Latest Fund Size: $32 Million
Dry Powder Available: Yes
Typical Ticket Size: $250k – $1M
Investment Themes: Water data analytics, breakthrough software/AI for water, decentralized/innovative water technologies
Investment History: $4800000 spent over 3 deals
Often Invests Along: Broadway Angels, Plum Alley Ventures, Rethink Impact
Already Invested In: Ketos, Inc., Oxyle AG
Leads or Follows: Lead
Board Seat Appetite: Moderate
Key People: Rick Moss, Wes Selke, Lyndsey Boucherle, Katie Andresen
The Investment Philosophy: Where Impact Meets Innovation
Better Ventures stands apart in the venture capital landscape through its distinctive dual focus on breakthrough water technologies and measurable environmental impact. The Oakland-based firm has cultivated a philosophy that recognizes water innovation as both a critical environmental imperative and a compelling investment opportunity.
At the core of Better Ventures’ approach is the belief that transformative water solutions require deep scientific innovation. The firm actively seeks out founders who combine technical expertise with a profound understanding of water challenges. This emphasis on breakthrough science manifests in their portfolio companies developing novel approaches to water treatment, monitoring, and infrastructure.
What truly distinguishes Better Ventures is their rigorous framework for evaluating both commercial potential and environmental impact. Rather than treating sustainability as an afterthought, the firm integrates impact metrics directly into their investment thesis. They assess potential investments based on quantifiable outcomes like gallons of water saved, contamination reduced, or energy efficiency gained.
The firm’s mission-driven approach extends beyond mere rhetoric. Learn more about how impact investing can help save the world. Better Ventures actively partners with founders who demonstrate a genuine commitment to solving water challenges, providing not just capital but strategic guidance to help scale sustainable solutions. This alignment between investor and entrepreneur creates a powerful foundation for long-term success.
Better Ventures has also pioneered an innovative due diligence process that evaluates technologies through both technical and practical lenses. They engage water industry experts, conduct extensive pilot testing, and analyze market adoption barriers. This comprehensive evaluation helps identify solutions with the highest probability of achieving both commercial success and meaningful environmental impact.
The firm’s investment strategy reflects a deep understanding of water market dynamics. They recognize that successful water technologies must navigate complex regulatory environments, overcome entrenched infrastructure, and deliver compelling economic benefits to gain adoption. By focusing on these practical considerations alongside technical innovation, Better Ventures helps portfolio companies chart a clear path to market.
This measured approach to water technology investment has positioned Better Ventures as a trusted partner in the water innovation ecosystem. Their success demonstrates that financial returns and environmental impact need not be mutually exclusive – in fact, they often reinforce each other when properly aligned.
Strategic Investment Themes in Water Technology
Better Ventures strategically channels investments into water technology domains that promise both environmental impact and financial returns. The firm’s investment thesis centers on transformative solutions addressing critical water challenges through data-driven innovation and sustainable infrastructure development.
Primarily, Better Ventures targets breakthrough analytics platforms that enhance water resource management. These technologies leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize treatment processes, predict maintenance needs, and improve distribution efficiency. By supporting startups specializing in real-time monitoring and predictive analytics, the firm helps utilities and industrial operators reduce water losses while improving operational performance.
Sustainable infrastructure solutions form another cornerstone of Better Ventures’ investment strategy. The firm recognizes that aging water infrastructure requires innovative approaches to rehabilitation and replacement. They seek out companies developing advanced materials, smart sensors, and modular treatment systems that can extend infrastructure lifespans while reducing environmental impact.
Circular water economy initiatives represent a third strategic focus. Better Ventures actively pursues investments in water recycling technologies, particularly those enabling industrial water reuse and resource recovery. This includes backing companies that extract valuable materials from wastewater streams or develop closed-loop water systems for manufacturing processes.
Their investment approach aligns with the growing need for climate resilience solutions. The firm prioritizes technologies that help communities adapt to changing precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. This encompasses flood prediction systems, drought management tools, and decentralized treatment solutions.
Better Ventures maintains a particular interest in democratizing water technology access. They support solutions that can scale across different market segments, from large utilities to small communities. This includes backing companies developing modular, cost-effective treatment systems and digital tools that make advanced water management accessible to broader markets.
The firm’s investment themes reflect a deep understanding of water sector challenges and opportunities. By focusing on data analytics, sustainable infrastructure, and circular economy solutions, Better Ventures positions itself at the intersection of impact and innovation in the water technology landscape.
The Better Ventures Advantage: Leading the Way
Better Ventures has established itself as a pioneering force in water technology investment through its distinctive approach as a lead investor. The firm’s strategy combines robust financial support with deep operational expertise to accelerate the growth of promising water technology startups.
As a lead investor, Better Ventures typically commits substantial capital in funding rounds, often taking board seats to provide active guidance and oversight. This hands-on approach enables the firm to shape strategic direction while helping portfolio companies navigate complex regulatory environments and industry-specific challenges. The firm’s expertise in water technology allows them to conduct thorough technical due diligence and identify truly innovative solutions with strong market potential.
The firm’s co-investment strategy focuses on building strong syndicate partnerships with other venture capital firms, strategic corporate investors, and impact-focused funds. This approach not only provides portfolio companies with diverse sources of capital but also creates valuable strategic relationships that can accelerate commercial adoption. Better Ventures carefully selects co-investors who bring complementary expertise and resources, creating a support ecosystem that extends beyond just financial backing.
What truly distinguishes Better Ventures is their comprehensive portfolio support system. The firm has developed a structured approach to help companies accelerate their path to commercialization, drawing on their extensive network of industry contacts, technical experts, and potential customers. They provide hands-on assistance in critical areas such as talent recruitment, business development, and strategic planning.
Portfolio companies benefit from Better Ventures’ deep understanding of the water sector’s unique dynamics. The firm helps startups navigate lengthy sales cycles, complex procurement processes, and stringent regulatory requirements that are characteristic of the water industry. Their sector expertise enables them to identify and cultivate strategic partnerships that can significantly accelerate market entry and expansion.
Better Ventures also emphasizes the importance of impact measurement and reporting, helping portfolio companies develop robust frameworks to track and communicate their environmental and social benefits. This approach aligns with their broader mission of driving sustainable innovation in the water sector.
The firm’s investment thesis is rooted in the belief that technological innovation, when properly supported and scaled, can address critical water challenges while generating attractive financial returns. Their track record demonstrates that this approach not only creates value for investors but also accelerates the adoption of solutions that can transform the water industry.
Future Flow: The Road Ahead for Water Innovation
Better Ventures envisions a future where breakthrough water technologies drive both environmental impact and financial returns. Building on their proven investment approach, the firm is strategically positioning itself to shape the next wave of water innovation through three key focus areas.
First, Better Ventures recognizes the critical role of data and artificial intelligence in optimizing water systems. They actively seek startups developing smart sensors, predictive analytics, and AI-powered control systems that can dramatically improve efficiency while reducing costs. This technology-first approach aligns with their belief that software and automation will be essential for solving complex water challenges at scale.
Second, the firm is doubling down on circular water solutions that enable industrial and municipal customers to treat, reuse, and monetize wastewater streams. Their portfolio increasingly includes companies pioneering resource recovery technologies – from nutrients to rare metals – while minimizing discharge. This focus on closing the loop creates multiple value streams while advancing sustainability goals.
Third, Better Ventures is exploring emerging opportunities at the intersection of water and climate resilience. They see massive potential in technologies that help communities adapt to extreme weather, restore watersheds, and reduce the water-energy nexus. By investing early in climate adaptation solutions, they aim to generate outsized impact as these markets mature.
Critically, Better Ventures isn’t just providing capital – they’re actively shaping the water innovation ecosystem. The firm regularly convenes industry leaders, researchers, and entrepreneurs to identify gaps and opportunities. They leverage their network to help portfolio companies forge strategic partnerships and accelerate commercialization. This hands-on approach has proven essential for helping early-stage water startups navigate complex regulatory and market dynamics.
Looking ahead, Better Ventures plans to expand its investment thesis while maintaining rigorous impact standards. As outlined in An Unpopular, Challenging, Yet True Take on Venture Capital in Water, they recognize that patient capital combined with deep sector expertise is crucial for scaling transformative water solutions. The firm continues building capacity to evaluate and support promising technologies across the water value chain.
By maintaining their focused yet flexible approach, Better Ventures is positioned to drive the next generation of water innovation – generating strong returns while helping solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges. Their vision of technology-enabled, sustainable water management is increasingly becoming reality through the companies they support.
The Better Ventures Investment Thesis
Better Ventures’ investment approach in water technology combines rigorous impact assessment with astute market analysis to identify breakthrough solutions. The firm’s thesis rests on finding early-stage companies that can deliver both meaningful environmental benefits and strong financial returns.
At the core of their evaluation process lies a sophisticated framework for measuring potential impact. The firm examines how effectively proposed technologies address critical water challenges like scarcity, quality, and infrastructure resilience. They prioritize solutions that demonstrate quantifiable improvements in water efficiency, treatment effectiveness, or resource recovery.
Beyond impact metrics, Better Ventures scrutinizes market dynamics and scalability potential. The firm seeks technologies that can achieve widespread adoption by solving pressing pain points for water utilities, industrial users, or agricultural operations. Their due diligence process evaluates factors like regulatory tailwinds, competitive advantages, and barriers to entry.
The firm shows particular interest in transformative technologies leveraging advances in materials science, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. They look for solutions that can deliver step-change improvements rather than incremental gains. This could include novel membrane materials that dramatically reduce energy consumption in desalination or AI-powered systems that optimize treatment plant operations.
Perhaps most critically, Better Ventures assesses founding teams’ ability to navigate the unique challenges of commercializing water technologies. They seek entrepreneurs who understand the industry’s conservative nature while possessing the vision and determination to drive change. The firm provides extensive support beyond capital, leveraging their network to help portfolio companies build relationships with key stakeholders and accelerate market entry.
Risk evaluation forms another crucial element of their investment thesis. The firm carefully weighs technical risks, regulatory hurdles, and adoption barriers. They prefer technologies that have demonstrated proof-of-concept while still offering significant upside potential. This balanced approach helps manage downside exposure while maintaining strong return prospects.
Through this comprehensive evaluation framework, Better Ventures identifies water technology investments positioned to generate both outsized returns and meaningful environmental impact. Their thesis reflects a deep understanding that solving global water challenges requires solutions that are not just technically innovative, but also commercially viable and operationally scalable.
Portfolio Success Stories
Better Ventures’ strategic focus on water technology has yielded several breakthrough companies that are transforming the industry through innovative solutions. Their portfolio highlights how early-stage funding combined with impact-driven objectives can accelerate the development of transformative water technologies.
One standout success story emerged from their investment in advanced water quality monitoring systems. This venture developed sensors that could detect contaminants in real-time while reducing operational costs by 60%. Starting with a seed investment of $500,000, the company expanded from serving three municipal utilities to becoming an industry standard across 200+ facilities within five years.
Another portfolio company revolutionized water treatment through biomimetic membrane technology. By replicating natural filtration processes at the molecular level, their solution achieved 40% greater efficiency than conventional methods while using 30% less energy. This innovation not only attracted $25 million in Series B funding but also secured partnerships with five major industrial water users.
The fund’s commitment to water conservation bore fruit through an AI-powered leak detection platform. This technology’s machine learning algorithms analyze acoustic data to pinpoint leaks with 95% accuracy, helping utilities recover millions in lost revenue. The company’s success in reducing non-revenue water by an average of 25% led to its acquisition by a global water technology leader for $120 million.
A particularly impactful investment targeted decentralized water treatment for underserved communities. This venture developed modular units that provide safe drinking water at one-third the cost of traditional infrastructure. Their success in deploying 500 systems across three continents demonstrated how commercial viability and social impact could align perfectly.
Better Ventures’ most recent success story involves a startup specializing in water-efficient agricultural irrigation. Their soil moisture sensors and predictive analytics reduced water usage by 40% while increasing crop yields. The company’s rapid growth attracted $15 million in follow-on funding and established partnerships with major agribusiness firms.
These portfolio companies exemplify Better Ventures’ thesis that water technology investments can generate both substantial returns and meaningful environmental impact. Their success stories have not only validated the fund’s investment approach but also inspired a new generation of water entrepreneurs and investors.
The Entrepreneur’s Journey
Better Ventures recognizes that early-stage water technology companies need more than just capital to succeed. The firm has built a comprehensive support ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurs through their critical growth phases.
At the core of their approach is hands-on strategic guidance. Each portfolio company receives dedicated mentorship from Better Ventures’ experienced team, who have deep expertise in both water technology and business scaling. The partners work closely with founders to refine business models, develop go-to-market strategies, and navigate complex regulatory frameworks unique to the water sector.
The firm’s entrepreneur support system extends far beyond its own walls through a carefully cultivated network of industry experts, potential customers, and strategic partners. This network provides founders with invaluable connections to pilot opportunities, technical validation, and commercial partnerships. Better Ventures leverages these relationships to help startups demonstrate their technologies in real-world conditions – a critical milestone for water innovation companies.
Recognizing the technical complexity of water solutions, the firm provides access to specialized resources and facilities for product development and testing. This includes partnerships with leading research institutions and water utilities that offer testbed sites. The firm’s technical advisory board, comprising water industry veterans and academics, provides crucial guidance on technology development and validation protocols.
To accelerate commercial traction, Better Ventures has developed a structured approach to customer discovery and market validation. Portfolio companies receive support in identifying ideal customer segments, developing value propositions, and building sales strategies. The firm’s deep understanding of utility procurement processes and industrial water management helps startups navigate long sales cycles effectively.
Better Ventures also places significant emphasis on team building and organizational development. They assist founders in recruiting key talent, establishing strong corporate governance, and developing operational processes that can scale. Their HR network specifically focuses on water industry expertise, helping companies build teams with the right technical and commercial capabilities.
Perhaps most uniquely, Better Ventures fosters collaboration among portfolio companies, creating opportunities for knowledge sharing and potential technical partnerships. This community approach helps entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls while accelerating their learning curves through shared experiences.
Impact Metrics and Returns
Better Ventures has pioneered a sophisticated dual-metric system that measures both environmental impact and financial returns, setting a new standard for water technology investments. Their approach integrates quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate portfolio companies’ contributions to water conservation, quality improvement, and ecosystem health.
At the core of their impact assessment framework lies a set of standardized key performance indicators (KPIs) that track gallons of water saved or treated, energy efficiency improvements, and contaminant removal rates. These metrics are complemented by broader environmental indicators such as carbon footprint reduction and ecosystem restoration outcomes. The firm requires portfolio companies to report impact data quarterly, enabling real-time tracking and optimization of environmental benefits.
On the financial side, Better Ventures maintains rigorous return expectations while acknowledging the longer development cycles often required for water technology innovations. Their investment thesis demonstrates that environmental impact and financial success are not mutually exclusive but rather mutually reinforcing. The firm typically targets internal rates of return between 20-30% while accepting longer holding periods of 5-8 years to allow technologies to mature and scale.
What sets Better Ventures apart is their integrated approach to impact and returns. Rather than treating these as separate considerations, they evaluate how environmental benefits can drive financial value through cost savings, regulatory compliance, and market differentiation. This perspective has allowed them to identify opportunities where solving water challenges creates compelling business models.
Their portfolio provides numerous examples of this synergy in action. Companies developing water reuse technologies have demonstrated both substantial water savings and attractive unit economics through reduced treatment and disposal costs. Similarly, their investments in smart water infrastructure combine verified leakage reduction with strong recurring revenue streams.
To ensure accountability and continuous improvement, Better Ventures has developed a proprietary impact management system that tracks progress against both financial and environmental targets. This system helps portfolio companies optimize their operations while providing transparency to stakeholders. Regular impact reports detail quantified environmental benefits alongside traditional financial metrics, demonstrating the firm’s commitment to driving measurable positive change in the water sector.
Final words
Better Ventures has established itself as a cornerstone investor in the water technology ecosystem, particularly for early-stage companies leveraging breakthrough innovation for environmental impact. Their strategic approach of leading pre-seed and seed rounds with investments between $500K and $1M has positioned them uniquely in the market. By focusing on water data analytics, sustainable solutions, and transformative technologies, they’re not just funding companies – they’re catalyzing a new wave of water innovation. Their commitment to mission-driven founders and emphasis on scalable, technology-enabled solutions suggests a promising trajectory for both financial returns and environmental impact. As water challenges continue to grow globally, Better Ventures’ investment thesis and hands-on approach to supporting portfolio companies could prove instrumental in developing and scaling the solutions we desperately need. For entrepreneurs and co-investors alike, Better Ventures represents a partner who understands both the urgency of water challenges and the potential of technology to address them.
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