Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear Capital is a Los Angeles climate-tech venture firm that backs AI and data software for the energy, infrastructure, and climate industries. Water is one slice of that thesis: as of 2026 it has backed 4 water companies, from treatment-plant AI to utility metering, across 6 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Blue Bear Capital is a software-first climate investor. Founded in 2016 by energy-finance veterans, the firm writes cheques into companies that point artificial intelligence and data at the unglamorous machinery of energy, grids, and infrastructure, deliberately steering around the capital-heavy hardware that has sunk so many climate funds. Its whole bet is that the fastest returns in the energy transition come from software, not steel.
Blue Bear Capital treats water as an infrastructure problem software can solve, and backs the data layer of water rather than the pipes. Pani Energy uses machine learning to wring more output from desalination and treatment plants; Copper Labs reads utility meters, water included, over the air; Hydrosat turns thermal-satellite imagery into the water-stress signals that tell a grower how thirsty a field is. Across Leviathan's records that is 4 water companies over 6 deals, from Seed to Series B.
Blue Bear Capital closed its $160M Fund III in November 2024, backed by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the McKnight Foundation, and UBS, and the same logic now scales. Founding partner Ernst Sack, who spent nine years in energy private equity at Riverstone, sits on the board of water-AI company Pani. For a newcomer to water, Blue Bear is the clearest case of the sector arriving through the side door of energy software.
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 · 4 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Blue Bear Capital invest in?
- Blue Bear Capital invests in AI and data-driven software for the energy, infrastructure, and climate industries, backing companies that apply machine learning to grids, plants, and fleets. Within that thesis it funds water through digital tools for treatment, metering, and satellite water data, rather than heavy hardware.
- Who runs Blue Bear Capital?
- Blue Bear Capital was founded in 2016 and is led by partners including Ernst Sack and Vaughn Blake, alongside Carolin Funk and CTO Robert MacInnis. Sack, a former Riverstone energy private-equity investor who sits on the board of water-AI company Pani, leads much of the firm's infrastructure and water activity.
- Where is Blue Bear Capital based?
- Blue Bear Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with team members across the United States and United Kingdom. Founded in 2016, the firm invests in energy, infrastructure, and climate technology companies, mostly in North America and Europe, from Seed through growth stages.
- How many water deals has Blue Bear Capital done?
- Blue Bear Capital has backed 4 water companies across 6 deals tracked by Leviathan, from Seed to Series B, including Pani Energy, Hydrosat, Copper Labs, and Cala Systems. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed, with a score of 76 out of 100.
- Is Blue Bear Capital a water fund?
- Blue Bear Capital is a climate and energy technology venture firm, not a water-only fund, and it is separate from the similarly named Blue Bear Capital real-estate group in Paris. Water is one infrastructure theme within its broader artificial-intelligence-for-energy thesis.