F. R. Bigelow Foundation
F. R. Bigelow Foundation is a private community foundation in Saint Paul, Minnesota, established in 1938, that shows up in water through its mission-related investment program rather than as a venture fund. Its single water position is Claros Technologies, a Minnesota company that destroys PFAS forever chemicals. As of 2025 it has backed one water company across two rounds.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
F. R. Bigelow Foundation is not a venture fund at all. It is a Saint Paul charitable foundation that Frederic Russell Bigelow, a local insurance executive, set up in 1938 with shares of the Saint Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, now part of Travelers. It became a grantmaking charity in 1946, and today it works as a partner foundation of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, funding nonprofits across the Twin Cities East Metro.
So why does F. R. Bigelow Foundation appear in a water database? Since 2018 it has run a mission-related investment program, or MRI: market-rate cheques the foundation makes to earn a return and do social good at the same time, separate from the grants it gives away. That portfolio held about $14.3 million as of December 2024, spanning healthcare, affordable housing, and a small slice of environmental technology.
F. R. Bigelow Foundation's only water line is Claros Technologies, a Minneapolis company that destroys PFAS, the forever chemicals tied to contaminated drinking water. Bigelow backed Claros alongside the University of Minnesota, Capita3, and American Century Private Investments, with a new financing round announced in August 2025. In the Leviathan data it is a single water company across two rounds, the foundation's lone toe in the sector.
For a newcomer scanning water investors, F. R. Bigelow Foundation is a useful reminder that not every name on an investor list is a fund chasing deal flow. This is mission money from a community endowment, placed in a local company solving a local problem, PFAS in Minnesota's water. Expect grants and place-based impact, not a steady stream of water rounds, and read the Claros position as conviction about cleanup rather than a water-tech investing strategy.
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 F. R. Bigelow Foundation invest in?
- F. R. Bigelow Foundation is a Saint Paul grantmaking foundation, so most of its money goes to local nonprofits in arts, education, health, housing, and human services. Separately, its mission-related investment portfolio makes market-rate impact investments, which is where its single water position, Claros Technologies, sits.
- Is F. R. Bigelow Foundation a venture capital fund?
- No. F. R. Bigelow Foundation is a private community foundation in Saint Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1938 and run as a partner of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. It appears among water investors only because of one mission-related investment in a PFAS-cleanup company, not because it runs a water fund.
- What water company has F. R. Bigelow Foundation backed?
- F. R. Bigelow Foundation's lone water position is Claros Technologies, a Minneapolis company that destroys PFAS forever chemicals found in contaminated water. The foundation invested through its mission-related portfolio, joining the University of Minnesota, Capita3, and American Century Private Investments among the company's backers.
- Where is F. R. Bigelow Foundation based?
- F. R. Bigelow Foundation is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and focuses on the Twin Cities East Metro region. Established in 1938 by insurance executive Frederic Russell Bigelow, it shares staff and grant administration with the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, the state's largest community foundation.