Anthropocene Ventures
Anthropocene Ventures is a San Francisco climate-tech venture firm backing pre-seed and seed hard-science startups, with water a core focus. It deliberately funds undercapitalized verticals (water, the built environment, and alternative materials) that bigger investors overlook. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals, from atmospheric water generation to advanced filtration.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Anthropocene Ventures runs a contrarian bet: the climate verticals everyone else underfunds today are the ones that matter in three or four years, and water sits near the top of that list. The firm backs pre-seed and seed founders working in hard science and deep tech, the physics-heavy hardware that scares generalist investors off, and it deliberately wades into water, the built environment, and alternative materials instead of crowding into solar and batteries.
Anthropocene Ventures earns its water credibility from who stands behind it. Co-founder Jim Boettcher has been investing in climate since the 1980s with a particular eye on water and waste, an electrical engineer who built Focus Ventures into one of the Valley's top funds first. Founder Matt McGraw spent thirty years scaling early-stage companies and only turned the lens on climate after his wife, a climate scientist, pointed out that founder-scaling, not the science, was the gap most hard-tech climate startups actually had.
In water, Anthropocene Ventures backs the tangible end of the problem. It put early money into Water Harvesting, which pulls drinking water straight out of the air with modular atmospheric generators, and into Accelerated Filtration, which makes industrial filtration run faster and cheaper. Across 2 water companies and 3 deals, the fund writes small early cheques and co-invests rather than leads, the role of a specialist getting in before the round is obvious.
Anthropocene Ventures treats water as a vertical that is still early and largely ignored, and its whole edge is being there on purpose before the capital crowds in. That is the kind of fund I watch to learn which unglamorous water problems are finally becoming fundable.
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 Anthropocene Ventures invest in?
- Anthropocene Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed climate-tech startups built on hard science and deep-tech engineering. It concentrates on undercapitalized verticals, water, the built environment, and alternative materials, alongside hydrogen and decarbonization, backing founders whose technology is sound but who need help scaling a company.
- Does Anthropocene Ventures invest in water?
- Yes. Water is one of Anthropocene Ventures' core focus areas, a vertical it considers undercapitalized today but central within a few years. The firm has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals, including Water Harvesting's atmospheric water generators and Accelerated Filtration's industrial systems, and (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.
- Who runs Anthropocene Ventures?
- Anthropocene Ventures was co-founded by Managing Partners Matt McGraw and Jim Boettcher, with Partner Alicia Cha Umphreys. McGraw spent three decades scaling early-stage companies; Boettcher has invested in climate since the 1980s with a focus on water and waste; Cha Umphreys came from Formation 8, 8VC, and Brookfield's built-environment fund.
- Where is Anthropocene Ventures based?
- Anthropocene Ventures is based in San Francisco, California, at the Ferry Building, and invests globally with particular reach into Asia. Founded around 2022, it is an early-stage climate-tech firm that writes small pre-seed and seed cheques and co-invests rather than leading rounds.
- Is Anthropocene Ventures a water-only fund?
- No. Anthropocene Ventures is a broad climate and deep-tech fund, not a water-only investor. Water is one of several undercapitalized verticals it targets, alongside the built environment, alternative materials, hydrogen, and decarbonization. Its water portfolio so far spans 2 companies across 3 deals, a focused slice of a wider climate thesis.