Builders VC
Builders VC is a San Francisco venture capital (VC) firm that backs founders modernizing antiquated industries, from healthcare and agriculture to industrial infrastructure. Founded in 2018, it pairs technology with deep operational know-how rather than chasing hype. Water is a small corner: as of 2026 Builders VC has backed 1 water company, SewerAI, across 3 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Builders VC built its whole reputation on the unglamorous end of the economy: the industries everyone else finds too slow, too regulated, or too dull to disrupt. Founded in San Francisco in 2018 by Jim Kim, the firm backs founders who modernize antiquated industries, the kind that still run on clipboards and spreadsheets, by pairing real technology with hard operational know-how. Kim built the playbook earlier at Khosla Ventures and Formation 8, and the bet is consistent: the biggest software gains hide where software has barely arrived.
Builders VC invests across healthcare, agriculture, industrial technology, and the built world of real estate and construction, writing early cheques (a venture investor's first money into a young company) and following on as the winners scale. The firm is now deploying its third fund since 2018, run by a bench of general partners including Alex Kinnier, healthcare lead Amit Mehta, Jocelyn Doe, and Mike Rosengarten. It is a generalist shop, not a sector specialist, and water has never been one of its named themes.
Builders VC is not a water fund, and a newcomer should hold onto that. The single water company (don't) Waste Water tracks in its portfolio is SewerAI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to read CCTV footage of sewer pipes and tell cities which ones are about to fail. It is a near-perfect expression of the thesis: a municipal sewer is about the most antiquated industry imaginable, and SewerAI hands it modern software. Across 1 water company and 3 deals, that is the whole of Builders VC's water footprint.
Builders VC is worth watching less for a water strategy it does not have than for the lens it brings: water reaches its radar when the pitch is fixing crumbling infrastructure with software, not waving a sustainability flag. For water founders, the read is simple: Builders VC pays attention when a water problem is really an operations-and-technology problem in disguise, the way a sewer quietly became a data problem.
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 Builders VC invest in?
- Builders VC invests in early-stage companies modernizing antiquated industries, including healthcare and life sciences, agriculture, industrial technology, and real estate and construction. It looks for founders who combine strong technology with hands-on operational expertise. Its water exposure is incidental, reaching the sector through infrastructure software like the sewer-inspection startup SewerAI.
- Is Builders VC a water fund?
- Builders VC is a generalist venture capital firm, not a water fund. Water is not one of its named sectors. Within the portfolio (don't) Waste Water tracks, Builders VC has backed 1 water company, SewerAI, across 3 deals, reaching it through its thesis of bringing software to old-world infrastructure rather than a dedicated water mandate.
- Who runs Builders VC?
- Builders VC was founded in 2018 by Jim Kim, who serves as Founder and General Partner after earlier stints at Khosla Ventures and Formation 8. Its investment team is a bench of general partners including Alex Kinnier, healthcare lead Amit Mehta, Jocelyn Doe, and Mike Rosengarten, based at the firm's San Francisco office.
- Where is Builders VC based?
- Builders VC is based in San Francisco, California, at 201 Mission Street, and invests largely across the United States. Founded in 2018, the firm is now deploying its third fund and has extended its reach into the Middle East and North Africa through a dedicated regional partner.
- Is Builders VC the same as The Builders Fund?
- No. Builders VC is a San Francisco venture capital firm founded by Jim Kim in 2018 that brings technology to antiquated industries. It is unrelated to The Builders Fund, a separate growth-stage impact investor, and to the various 'Builders' startup studios. (don't) Waste Water tracks the San Francisco Builders VC.