Edaphon
Edaphon is a Brussels-based evergreen impact fund that backs nature-based solutions across sustainable food, agriculture and natural capital. Water reaches its portfolio through farming: as of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies, in soil-moisture sensing and nutrient recovery. Founded in 2022 by former Korys chief Vincent Vliebergh, it deploys patient, permanent capital.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Edaphon was created in 2022 by Vincent Vliebergh, who had just spent nearly two decades running Korys, the investment holding of Belgium's Colruyt family. The mandate he set is unusually literal: the edaphon is the web of living organisms inside healthy soil, and the fund treats soil as the place to start fixing the climate and biodiversity crises. It is an evergreen fund, which means it has no fixed end date and recycles its returns rather than handing capital back on the usual ten-year venture clock.
Edaphon backs nature-based solutions across sustainable food, agriculture and natural capital, and water turns up where farming meets fresh water. Two of its companies sit squarely in the (don't) Waste Water database: CropX, whose soil-moisture sensors help farms irrigate with less water, and Toopi Organics, which recovers nutrients from human urine so growers lean less on synthetic fertiliser. Neither is a pure water play; both are agriculture-first bets where saved water is the dividend.
Edaphon writes patient capital, money it can leave invested for years, into companies from early growth onward, and across its two water deals it has joined rounds from Series A to Series C without leading any of them. That is why (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional rather than core. Edaphon is the rare investor that arrives at water sideways, through the soil, and for a newcomer that is the useful thing to know: if your company saves water by making farmland healthier, this fund already speaks your language.
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 Edaphon invest in?
- Edaphon invests in nature-based solutions across sustainable food, agriculture and natural capital, with soil health as its organising idea. Its water-relevant holdings cover smart irrigation and nutrient recovery; as of 2026, (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 water companies in its portfolio.
- Who runs Edaphon?
- Edaphon is led by Founder and Managing Partner Vincent Vliebergh, formerly chief executive of Korys, the Colruyt family's investment holding, who started the fund in 2022. A small Brussels team of partners and senior associates, including Partner Joost Van Laer, sources and manages its investments.
- Where is Edaphon based?
- Edaphon is based in Brussels, Belgium, and invests across Europe. It runs as an evergreen fund, a permanent-capital vehicle with no fixed wind-down date, which lets it hold its positions for as long as a nature-based business needs to grow into its market.
- Is Edaphon a water fund?
- Edaphon is not a dedicated water fund; it is an impact fund focused on soil, food and natural capital. Water enters through agriculture, in companies that cut irrigation demand or recover nutrients, so (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional, at 2 tracked water deals.