Ciri Ventures
Ciri Ventures is a climate-tech venture capital firm that backs pre-seed and seed startups working to cut carbon at scale. It is a climate generalist, not a water specialist: its water exposure is two companies, atmospheric-water-generator maker Aquaria Technologies and osmotic-power developer MediSun Energy. As of June 2026 it has backed two water companies.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Ciri Ventures is a climate fund that leads with a number, not a sector. Its whole filter is carbon math: it backs pre-seed and seed founders whose technology could keep tens of millions of tons of CO2e out of the air every year, and it would rather get a company to break even quickly than bankroll a long science-project roadmap, pushing the startups it funds toward profitability early. Water is not the headline here; it is one of several places that carbon math happens to land.
Ciri Ventures reaches water through two companies, and both sit where water and energy blur together. Aquaria Technologies and MediSun Energy are the two names. Aquaria builds atmospheric water generators, machines that pull drinking water straight out of humid air, useful exactly where pipes and aquifers fall short. MediSun Energy works the opposite trick, harvesting power from the salinity gradient where fresh water meets the sea, using a process called reverse electrodialysis. One makes water from air; the other makes electricity from water.
Ciri Ventures rates as Committed on the (don't) Waste Water scale, the honest read for a fund with real but narrow water exposure: two water companies, no rounds led, the last water deal back in 2024. Ciri is a lean, single-investor fund run by a small cross-border team, with partner Daniel Fritsche among the people steering it. For a newcomer the useful takeaway is plain: Ciri is where water shows up as a climate and energy problem worth solving, not as a standalone water thesis, which is why you tend to see it riding alongside other backers rather than leading a water round itself.
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 Ciri Ventures invest in?
- Ciri Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed climate-tech startups, favouring companies whose technology can cut tens of millions of tons of CO2e a year and reach profitability quickly. Its water-related bets are Aquaria Technologies, which makes drinking water from air, and MediSun Energy, which generates power from salinity gradients.
- Does Ciri Ventures invest in water?
- Ciri Ventures is a climate-tech fund, not a dedicated water investor, but two of its companies are water-linked: Aquaria Technologies, an atmospheric water generator maker, and MediSun Energy, which harvests energy where fresh and salt water meet. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.
- Who runs Ciri Ventures?
- Ciri Ventures is a small, lean venture firm run by a cross-border team, with Daniel Fritsche named among its partners. The fund operates as a single-investor vehicle and keeps a deliberately small operation, working closely and quickly with the founders it backs at pre-seed and seed stage.
- Where is Ciri Ventures based?
- Ciri Ventures is listed in San Francisco, United States, though it runs a lean, globally distributed team with members across the United States and Asia. It invests in climate and water startups internationally at pre-seed and seed stage, rather than from a single office.
- Is Ciri Ventures the same as CIRI in Alaska?
- Ciri Ventures is a climate-tech venture capital firm and is not connected to CIRI, the Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Alaska Native regional corporation, despite the shared name. Ciri Ventures backs early-stage climate and water startups; Cook Inlet Region is a long-established Alaska Native business and investment corporation.