Bison Ventures
Bison Ventures is a San Francisco frontier-technology venture firm backing early-stage startups in climate, techbio, and advanced hardware. Bison is a deep-tech generalist, so water is one slice of the thesis, and its clearest water bet is Allonnia, a biotech attacking PFAS 'forever chemical' pollution. As of 2026, Bison has backed one water company across two rounds.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Bison Ventures came out of Bill Gates' investment world. Founding partners Ben Hemani and Tom Biegala both ran frontier-tech bets at Cascade Asset Management, the Gates investment office, before launching Bison in 2022 to write the first cheques into science-heavy startups, the kind where deep engineering is the moat. Their pitch is 'healthier people and a healthier planet', and they back it at pre-seed and seed, the earliest and riskiest end of venture.
Bison touches water only at the edges, not as a pure-play (a fund that invests in nothing but water). Its one water holding is Allonnia, a biotech that uses engineered biology to pull PFAS, the 'forever chemicals', out of contaminated water and to recover critical materials from industrial waste. That is the Bison pattern in miniature: biology and hard science aimed at a problem too stubborn for conventional kit.
Bison has joined two Allonnia rounds across a portfolio that otherwise leans toward techbio, robotics, and AI in the physical world. The firm closed its first fund at $135M in November 2023 and, per an April 2025 SEC filing, was raising a second targeting up to $175M. Water has never been the headline here, so whether more of it surfaces in Fund II is the open question, but the PFAS thread is a live one worth watching.
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 · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Bison Ventures invest in?
- Bison Ventures backs early-stage frontier-technology startups, science-heavy companies across climate, techbio, advanced hardware, and AI in the physical world. Bison writes pre-seed and seed cheques where deep engineering creates a defensible moat. Water shows up through holdings like Allonnia rather than as a standalone focus.
- Is Bison Ventures a water fund?
- Bison Ventures is a deep-tech generalist, not a dedicated water fund. Bison's water exposure runs through one portfolio company, Allonnia, a biotech removing PFAS forever-chemicals from contaminated water. (don't) Waste Water rates Bison's water commitment Occasional as of 2026.
- Who runs Bison Ventures?
- Bison Ventures was founded in 2022 by Ben Hemani and Tom Biegala, both former frontier-tech investors at Cascade Asset Management, Bill Gates' investment office. Caleb Appleton, a biomedical engineer formerly with Innovation Endeavors, joined as partner. The Bison team are engineers turned investors.
- Where is Bison Ventures based?
- Bison Ventures is based in San Francisco, California, and was founded in 2022. Bison closed its first fund at $135 million in November 2023; an April 2025 SEC filing showed the firm raising a second fund targeting up to $175 million.
- Is this Bison Ventures the same as the Bison mortgage lender?
- No. Several unrelated firms share the Bison Ventures name, including a Scottsdale mortgage lender and entities in India and Nigeria. This profile covers the San Francisco frontier-technology venture firm at bison.vc, founded by Ben Hemani and Tom Biegala.