BHP Ventures
BHP Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of BHP, the Australian mining giant. It backs early- and growth-stage technology that makes mining cleaner and less thirsty, from water-treatment membranes to industrial biology and lithium-from-brine. As of 2026 BHP Ventures has backed 3 water companies across 4 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
BHP Ventures is the corporate venture arm of BHP, one of the world's biggest mining companies, built in 2020 to back technology the parent can actually use. For a miner, water is not a sustainability talking point but an operating constraint: a mine that cannot secure and treat water does not get built, so BHP Ventures invests in water like a buyer who has to live with the result. Its money is strategic capital, not a financial flyer, aimed at tools BHP could deploy across copper, iron ore, and potash.
BHP Ventures backs the hard, industrial end of the water problem rather than anything consumer-facing. Across the companies (don't) Waste Water tracks, ZwitterCo makes fouling-resistant membranes that clean water streams other filters choke on; Allonnia engineers microbes and enzymes to break down or recover contaminants; Summit Nanotech pulls lithium straight out of salty brine with far less water than a conventional evaporation pond. The thread is treatment, recovery, and reuse for heavy industry, the kind of water problem a mining major sees up close every day.
BHP Ventures is run today by Laurel Buckner, who joined as vice president of ventures in January 2024 and leads a small team split across Australia, the United States, and Singapore. In 2025 the unit added David Li, a San Francisco-based lead principal, to widen its reach into energy, climate, and mining startups. It writes from a roughly $500 million pool and almost never leads a round, preferring to come in alongside specialist climate and deep-tech investors such as Bison Ventures and Xora Innovation rather than set the terms itself.
BHP Ventures is, to my eye, one of the clearest windows I track into where heavy industry thinks water technology is heading. A mining giant does not write cheques for water companies out of charity; it does it because cleaner, cheaper water handling is becoming a license to operate. The signal to watch is which water and brine technologies a buyer this large decides to back next, because where BHP Ventures puts its early money often marks what the wider mining industry will be buying a few years from now.
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 BHP Ventures invest in?
- BHP Ventures invests in early- and growth-stage technology that helps mining operate more cleanly and efficiently, spanning energy, decarbonisation, and water. Within water, (don't) Waste Water tracks 3 companies across 4 deals, focused on treatment membranes, industrial biology, and pulling lithium out of brine.
- Is BHP Ventures part of BHP, the mining company?
- Yes. BHP Ventures is the in-house corporate venture capital arm of BHP, the Australian mining and metals group, not a separate firm. It invests BHP's capital into emerging technology, including water, that can make the parent company's global mining operations cleaner, safer, and more water-efficient.
- Who runs BHP Ventures?
- BHP Ventures is led by Laurel Buckner, who joined as vice president of ventures in January 2024. In 2025 it added San Francisco-based lead principal David Li to chase energy, climate, and mining startups. The team is small and spread across Australia, the United States, and Singapore.
- Where is BHP Ventures based?
- BHP Ventures is the venture arm of BHP, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with investment staff also based in the United States and Singapore. It invests globally, backing technology companies across mining, energy, decarbonisation, and water rather than in one region alone.
- How many water deals has BHP Ventures done?
- BHP Ventures has backed 3 water companies across 4 deals, according to (don't) Waste Water's data, at the Series A and Series B stage. It has not led any of those rounds, instead co-investing alongside specialist climate and deep-tech funds.