Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations is the state of Connecticut's quasi-public venture capital arm, founded in 1989, that backs startups tied to Connecticut jobs. Its water bets run through a $100 million ClimateTech Fund covering wastewater, flooding, and carbon-removal technology. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Connecticut Innovations is not a water fund, and it does not pretend to be one. CI is the venture arm the state legislature stood up in 1989 to keep high-growth companies, and the jobs they carry, inside Connecticut. Water turns up because the problems do: wastewater plants, flood-prone towns, and a coastline the state has to defend.
CI's water capital flows through one vehicle, its $100 million ClimateTech Fund, launched in 2022 with federal pandemic-recovery dollars and run by Konstantine Drakonakis, a licensed environmental engineer who restored ecosystems before he wrote cheques. The catch that defines every deal: a company has to keep the majority of its staff in Connecticut, or move its US headquarters there, to qualify. This is economic development wearing a venture coat.
CI's water portfolio is small and pointed: two companies sitting exactly where climate and water overlap. CREW Carbon pulls carbon dioxide out of municipal wastewater treatment; Previsico forecasts floods street by street. Neither is a classic water-utility play, and that is the tell, since CI backs water when it doubles as climate adaptation and a Connecticut job, not water for its own sake.
For a newcomer, that makes Connecticut Innovations a particular kind of water investor, and the clearest case I track of capital with a zip code attached: patient, mandate-driven, and geographically fussy. A water company willing to plant itself in Connecticut has few more reliable early backers in the state. One that is not has walked up to the wrong door, and that clarity is the whole point of the place.
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 Connecticut Innovations invest in?
- Connecticut Innovations invests across biotech, IT, climate tech and consumer sectors as Connecticut's state venture arm. Its water and climate bets run through a $100 million ClimateTech Fund covering wastewater, flooding, carbon removal and clean energy. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals.
- Does Connecticut Innovations fund water startups?
- Connecticut Innovations funds water startups when they sit at the climate-adaptation edge, through its ClimateTech Fund. Its water portfolio includes CREW Carbon, which removes carbon dioxide inside wastewater plants, and Previsico, a flood-forecasting platform. Both tie water technology to climate goals and to Connecticut jobs.
- Who runs Connecticut Innovations' ClimateTech Fund?
- Connecticut Innovations' $100 million ClimateTech Fund is run by Konstantine Drakonakis, a managing director and licensed environmental engineer who worked on ecosystem restoration before venture capital. He backs early-stage energy, water, carbon-removal and circular-economy companies that build and hire in Connecticut.
- Do you have to be in Connecticut to get Connecticut Innovations funding?
- Connecticut Innovations funds companies that keep most of their employees in Connecticut or commit to creating jobs there; international startups and funds must establish a US headquarters in the state. This Connecticut-jobs mandate, not a pure financial return, shapes every investment the agency makes.
- Is Connecticut Innovations a government fund or a private VC?
- Connecticut Innovations is a quasi-public agency, not a private venture firm. Created by the Connecticut legislature in 1989, it invests state and federal capital to grow the local innovation economy, holding roughly $500 million in assets across more than 225 portfolio companies as of 2026.