EIC Rose Rock
EIC Rose Rock is a Tulsa-based energy-technology venture fund that leads Seed and Series A rounds across the energy transition and sustainability. Backed by Devon, ONEOK, Williams and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, it is a generalist, not a water specialist: just one company, Element3, sits in water. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
EIC Rose Rock was built to do something unusual with corporate money: turn Oklahoma's century-old oil and gas establishment into a launchpad for energy-tech startups. Launched in Tulsa in 2022 and managed by Energy Innovation Capital, the roughly $50 million fund was seeded by four of the state's heavyweights, the George Kaiser Family Foundation alongside Devon, ONEOK and Williams, and it leads Seed and Series A rounds (a company's first and second institutional cheques).
EIC Rose Rock invests across three themes, the energy transition, sustainability, and the digitization of energy, which means most of what it backs is grid, emissions, hydrogen and software rather than water. Its edge is the corporate backers themselves: a startup that wins a cheque also gets a path to pilot inside Devon, ONEOK or Williams, the kind of real-world proving ground a purely financial investor cannot offer.
EIC Rose Rock lands on the water map exactly once. Across every raise I track in my Leviathan database, that single appearance is Element3, a Fort Worth company that pulls battery-grade lithium out of the oil and gas industry's produced water, the briny wastewater that surfaces with every barrel. EIC Rose Rock backed Element3's Series A in September 2025, a bet that sits precisely where its energy roots and its sustainability theme overlap, water treatment that doubles as a critical-minerals play.
EIC Rose Rock, to a founder building in water, reads as an occasional, energy-first backer rather than a dedicated water fund, worth a call if your technology cleans up or extracts value from the water that energy and heavy industry already move at scale, less so if it is municipal, agricultural, or anything outside its corporate partners' orbit. As of 2026 that is one water company across two deals, and the open question is how much more of the produced-water-to-minerals frontier it decides to fund next.
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 · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does EIC Rose Rock invest in?
- EIC Rose Rock backs early-stage energy-technology startups, leading Seed and Series A rounds across three themes: the energy transition, sustainability, and the digitization of energy. Water is a small slice of that. In the Leviathan database it has backed a single water company, Element3, which extracts lithium from oil and gas produced water.
- Who runs EIC Rose Rock?
- EIC Rose Rock is managed by Energy Innovation Capital and run day-to-day by Managing Director David Clouse, formerly of BP Ventures. The roughly $50 million Tulsa fund was founded in 2022 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation alongside three Fortune 500 energy companies, Devon, ONEOK, and Williams, who also help its startups run pilots.
- Where is EIC Rose Rock based?
- EIC Rose Rock is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by design. The fund was created to turn the state's deep oil and gas expertise and its Fortune 1000 energy companies into a launchpad for energy-technology startups, leading Seed and Series A rounds from the centre of America's energy heartland.
- Is EIC Rose Rock a water investor?
- No. EIC Rose Rock is a generalist energy-technology fund, not a water specialist. Its only water exposure in the Leviathan database is Element3, which turns oil and gas produced water into battery-grade lithium, a sustainability bet that fits its energy roots. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional.
- How many water companies has EIC Rose Rock backed?
- EIC Rose Rock has backed one water company, Element3, a Fort Worth startup that recovers battery-grade lithium from the wastewater produced by oil and gas wells. In the Leviathan database that is one company across two deals, its Seed and a 2025 Series A. The fund's water commitment is rated Occasional.