Georg Fischer
Georg Fischer (GF) is a Swiss industrial group, founded in 1802, and a strategic investor in water technology. Best known for GF Piping Systems, it makes the pipes, valves and smart-water hardware that move water through buildings and utilities, and it backs startups it can also partner with. As of 2026 it has backed two water companies across four deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Georg Fischer is unusual on this directory: it is not a venture fund at all, but a Swiss industrial group founded in 1802 that has spent the last two years turning itself into a pure water-and-flow business. Through 2025 GF sold off its machining and automotive-casting arms to concentrate on one thing, moving fluids safely through buildings, factories and infrastructure, the same competence that occasionally leads it to write a cheque into a young water company.
When GF does invest, the logic is industrial, not financial. Its two water names sit right next to its own product lines: Oxford Flow, whose valves do away with the diaphragms and seals that normally fail, and Phyn, the smart leak-detection venture its Uponor arm co-founded with Belkin to put intelligence inside home plumbing. These are bets on hardware GF understands and can sell through its own channels, not portfolio diversification.
GF's Uponor deal in 2023 is the clearest tell. GF paid roughly 2.1 billion euros for the Finnish plumbing maker, far more than any startup cheque, and folded it into a new GF Building Flow Solutions division, inheriting Uponor's stake in Phyn along the way. For GF, owning a smart-water company outright fits a strategy of buying its way into the next layer of the water system rather than betting on many small rounds.
For a newcomer the read is simple: treat Georg Fischer as a strategic acquirer and occasional co-investor, not a water VC. Its last venture-style deal on record was 2021, and its capital now flows mainly through acquisitions and a Strategy 2030 plan to grow as a focused flow-solutions company. When GF backs a company, it usually wants the technology for its own catalogue, not just a financial return.
Team · 3 profiled
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 · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Georg Fischer (GF) do?
- Georg Fischer, or GF, is a Swiss industrial group founded in 1802 that designs and makes flow solutions: the piping systems, valves, fittings and smart-water hardware that move water and other fluids through buildings, factories and utility networks. After a 2025 reshape, water and flow are now its single focus.
- What water companies has Georg Fischer invested in?
- Georg Fischer has backed two water companies across four deals: Oxford Flow, which builds compact control valves without diaphragms or seals, and Phyn, the smart leak-detection venture its Uponor arm co-founded with Belkin. Its most recent venture-style deal on record dates to 2021.
- Is Georg Fischer a venture capital fund?
- No. Georg Fischer is a publicly listed Swiss industrial company, not a venture fund, so it has no fund size or outside investors to raise from. It invests in water startups strategically, to acquire or partner with technology that fits its own product lines, and grows mainly through acquisitions such as Uponor.
- Why did Georg Fischer acquire Uponor?
- Georg Fischer acquired Finnish plumbing maker Uponor in November 2023, for around 2.1 billion euros, to deepen its position in building water systems. Uponor became the new GF Building Flow Solutions division and brought with it a stake in Phyn, the intelligent-water venture Uponor had co-founded with Belkin.
- Who runs Georg Fischer?
- Georg Fischer has been led since 2019 by President and CEO Andreas Müller, who appeared on the (don't) Waste Water podcast to tell GF's 222-year story. Its core water-and-flow business is run by Thomas Hary, President of GF Industry and Infrastructure Flow Solutions, appointed in 2025.