FMG Circular AB
FMG Circular AB is a Swedish corporate venture that invests only in water-treatment technology. Founded in 2022 as a joint venture between family investment company Mellby Gård and its water-chemicals subsidiary Feralco, it backs startups in phosphorus removal, circular water treatment, and water monitoring. As of 2026 it has backed three water companies across four deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
FMG Circular is not a venture fund in the usual sense, and that is the most interesting thing about it. It is a joint venture set up in 2022 by Mellby Gård, a family-owned Swedish investment company, and Feralco, the water-treatment chemicals business Mellby Gård owns. The investor and the operator are the same house: Feralco has sold the coagulants and flocculants that clean water to utilities for decades, so when FMG Circular looks at a startup it reads the technology with a chemist's eye, not just a spreadsheet.
FMG Circular writes cheques into a tightly drawn slice of water: phosphorus and nitrogen removal, circularity in how treatment plants recover resources, separating out micropollutants, and the sensors that measure all of it. Every company it backs is solving a problem a water utility actually has. Line the portfolio up and the pattern is clear - I-Phyc grows microalgae to strip phosphorus from wastewater, Aqua Green pyrolyses sewage sludge including the PFAS-laden kind, Bygen turns farm waste into the activated carbon that filters water, Spec-Imaging reads the chemistry of cloudy liquids, and Acwa sends robots crawling through live pipes. In my Leviathan database I track three of these as closed deals, across four rounds.
FMG Circular is run by four people who sit on both sides of that investor-operator line: Mellby Gård's Mikael Helmerson and Filip Schager, and Feralco's two co-CEOs, Ludovic Huitorel and Stephen Childs. That double identity is the whole bet. Rather than back a water startup and wait, FMG Circular can hand it Feralco's utility customers, plant access, and chemistry know-how, paired with Mellby Gård's habit of holding companies for decades instead of the seven-year clock most venture funds run on. For a small Swedish vehicle most water investors have never heard of, FMG Circular keeps turning up early in exactly the unglamorous corners of water treatment where the regulation is tightening fastest.
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 FMG Circular invest in?
- FMG Circular Invest backs early-stage water-treatment companies in four areas: removing phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater, making treatment more circular, separating micropollutants, and water monitoring and measurement. Its portfolio includes I-Phyc, Aqua Green, Bygen, Spec-Imaging, and Acwa.
- Who is behind FMG Circular Invest?
- FMG Circular Invest is a joint venture between Mellby Gård, a family-owned Swedish investment company, and Feralco, the water-treatment chemicals supplier Mellby Gård owns. It is led by Mellby Gård's Mikael Helmerson and Filip Schager, with Feralco's co-CEOs Ludovic Huitorel and Stephen Childs.
- Where is FMG Circular Invest based?
- FMG Circular Invest is based in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, the home region of its parents Mellby Gård and Feralco. Founded in 2022, it invests in water-treatment startups across Europe, including the UK and Denmark, not only in Scandinavia.
- How many water companies has FMG Circular backed?
- FMG Circular has backed three water companies tracked by (don't) Waste Water, across four funding rounds: Bygen, AquaGreen, and ACWA Robotics. Its own portfolio list also names I-Phyc, its first investment, and Spec-Imaging, bringing the wider count to five water-technology companies.
- Is FMG Circular Invest the same as FMG Funds?
- No. FMG Circular Invest is the water-investment joint venture of Sweden's Mellby Gård and Feralco, based in Helsingborg. It should not be confused with FMG Funds SICAV, a separately registered fund manager, or with the mining company Fortescue (FMG). This page covers only the Mellby Gård and Feralco water vehicle.