Ecolab
Ecolab is a publicly traded global water, hygiene and infection-prevention company (NYSE: ECL) that also invests strategically in water-technology startups whose tools strengthen its own industrial water business. Founded in 1923 in St. Paul, Minnesota, it operates in over 170 countries. As of 2026 it has backed three water companies, including Membrion and FTD Solutions.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Ecolab runs one of the world's largest industrial water businesses, and when a startup builds something its own labs have not, Ecolab tends to take a stake rather than wait. The clearest recent move came in December 2025, when Ecolab closed its acquisition of Ovivo's electronics ultrapure-water business, the systems that keep semiconductor and AI-chip plants supplied with the spotless water they run on.
Ecolab started in 1923 in St. Paul, Minnesota, as Economics Laboratory, selling a cleaning product for hotel carpets. Water became the core business decades later, cemented by its 2011 merger with Nalco, the industrial water-treatment giant, and today Ecolab manages water for factories, data centres, food plants and hospitals across more than 170 countries.
Ecolab backs the narrow set of startups that plug straight into that business: ceramic membranes for industrial wastewater reuse at Membrion, digital-twin models of factory water systems at FTD Solutions, and nature-based wastewater treatment at Water and Carbon Group. Across three water companies tracked by (don't) Waste Water, Ecolab has led roughly a third of the rounds it joined, usually as the strategic corporate partner alongside specialist water funds rather than a syndicate of financial investors.
Ecolab is led by Christophe Beck, its chairman, president and CEO, who has steered the company toward high-growth water markets like microelectronics, life sciences and data-centre cooling. With the Ovivo business now folded in and a digital water arm that Ecolab says is scaling fast, the company's next bets are likely to cluster where water meets the AI build-out, the place its own customers feel the squeeze most.
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 · 3 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Ecolab invest in?
- Ecolab invests in water-technology startups whose tools fit its own industrial water business: ceramic membranes for wastewater reuse, digital-twin software for factory water systems, and nature-based wastewater treatment. The investments are strategic rather than purely financial, giving Ecolab early access to technology it can deploy across its global customer base.
- Is Ecolab a venture capital firm?
- Ecolab is not a venture-capital or private-equity fund. It is a publicly traded water, hygiene and infection-prevention company (NYSE: ECL), founded in 1923, that makes strategic minority investments from its own balance sheet in startups whose technology strengthens its core industrial water business.
- Which water companies has Ecolab backed?
- Ecolab has backed three water companies tracked by (don't) Waste Water: Membrion, which makes ceramic membranes for industrial wastewater reuse; FTD Solutions, a digital-twin platform for factory water systems; and Water and Carbon Group, which builds nature-based wastewater and stormwater treatment. Membrion, backed in 2025, is its most recent.
- Who runs Ecolab?
- Ecolab is led by Christophe Beck, its chairman, president and chief executive officer. Beck was named president and CEO in 2021 and chairman in 2022, and has pushed the company deeper into high-growth water markets such as microelectronics, life sciences and data-centre cooling.
- Where is Ecolab based?
- Ecolab is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the United States, where it was founded in 1923 and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange as ECL. The company operates in more than 170 countries and runs much of its water-technology business globally.