Echo River Capital
Echo River Capital is a San Francisco water-tech venture fund built on the "Three Ds": digitizing, decarbonizing, and decentralizing the water economy. It is a certified B Corporation that writes small first cheques, roughly $50K, into very early water startups worldwide. As of 2026 it has backed 18 water companies across 23 deals since 2021.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Echo River Capital started where most water funds don't: inside an actual water company. Peter Yolles founded WaterSmart Software, the utility data-analytics business that ended up reaching 20 million people before VertexOne acquired it in 2020, and in the podcast he calls that exit "a double, not a home run," which tells you the kind of honest operator he is. So when he set up Echo River in 2021, the fund came with three decades of water in its bones, not a thesis borrowed from a deck.
Echo River Capital's thesis is tidy enough to fit on a business card. The fund backs companies that do one of three things to water, what Yolles calls the "Three Ds": digitize it (water is analog, all atoms and no bits, so you need sensors and software to even see the stocks and flows), decarbonize it (water and energy are the same problem wearing two coats), and decentralize it (treatment that happens on-site instead of at one giant plant miles away). Across the portfolio you can watch that play out, from atmospheric water generation and PFAS destruction to low-cost water sensors and robotic irrigation.
Echo River Capital spreads its bets in a way I find genuinely clever. Yolles describes it as a three-dimensional bingo card, one axis for the water vertical, one for the technology type, one for the geography, and he places small cheques (about $50K to start, with reserves held back for the winners) across as many squares as he can. The point, in his words, is to widen the universe of acquirers ten years out, because in water the exit is almost always an acquisition rather than an IPO. For a fund of this size, breadth is the strategy.
Echo River is also a certified B Corporation and an ImpactAssets 50 Emerging Impact Manager, which is the part that keeps it honest: every cheque has to clear a returns bar and an impact bar at the same time. As of June 2026 the fund is building Fund II and opening conversations with family offices and impact investors, so the next chapter of the same bingo card is being written now.
On the show
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 · 18 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Echo River Capital invest in?
- Echo River Capital backs early-stage water-technology startups worldwide that digitize, decarbonize, or decentralize the water economy, its "Three Ds" thesis. The portfolio spans atmospheric water generation, PFAS destruction, IoT sensors, on-site reuse, and smart irrigation. As of 2026 it has backed 18 water companies across 23 deals since 2021.
- Who runs Echo River Capital?
- Echo River Capital is run by founder and managing partner Peter Yolles, who previously founded WaterSmart Software, a utility data-analytics company acquired by VertexOne in 2020. Yolles brings about three decades in water, with earlier roles at the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy, and Yale degrees in finance and water science.
- What stage and check size does Echo River Capital write?
- Echo River Capital is an early-stage fund concentrated on Pre-Seed and Seed rounds, with a few Series A deals and one Series B. It typically writes a small first cheque of roughly $50K and holds reserves back to follow on into the companies that work, usually co-investing alongside larger funds rather than leading rounds.
- Is Echo River Capital an impact fund?
- Echo River Capital is a certified B Corporation and an ImpactAssets 50 Emerging Impact Manager, so every investment is judged on financial return and measurable environmental impact together. Based in San Francisco and founded in 2021, the fund targets market-rate returns from water technology that improves human health, the environment, and climate resilience.
- Is Echo River Capital the same as other "river" or "echo" funds?
- Echo River Capital is a San Francisco water-technology venture fund founded in 2021 by Peter Yolles, distinct from similarly named investment firms that share the "Echo" or "River" label in other sectors. Echo River invests only in water, under its "Three Ds" thesis, and is a certified B Corporation.