ID Ventures
ID Ventures is the venture capital arm of Invest Detroit, an early-stage fund based in Detroit, Michigan that backs local high-tech startups, not a water specialist. It is one of the most active early-stage investors in the state. As of 2026 it has backed more than 230 companies overall, only two of them in water, both in membranes and filtration.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
ID Ventures is the venture capital arm of Invest Detroit, and reading it as a water fund would be a mistake. It is a Michigan economic-development investor first, built to keep capital and founders in the state, and one of the most active early-stage backers working in Michigan today. Water is a thin thread in a much larger book: of the more than 230 companies ID Ventures has backed since 2009, two are in water.
ID Ventures did not arrive at water through a water thesis. It arrived through Detroit, and through a mandate to fund the kind of hard, physical technology Michigan's manufacturing economy actually builds, with a deliberate tilt toward women, minority, and immigrant founders. Its two water names sit in that materials-and-deeptech lane, not in utility billing software: Membrion makes ceramic ion-exchange membranes that clean industrial water, and Accelerated Filtration builds high-efficiency filtration systems.
ID Ventures is the kind of fund a newcomer should file under generalist with a Michigan-manufacturing tilt, not water specialist, and the distinction changes how you read its two deals. Water here is an expression of a materials thesis, not a mission. ID Ventures led neither water round, coming in alongside Michigan ecosystem co-investors and materials specialists like Pangaea Ventures, so if more water follows it will likely keep arriving the same way, through hard tech that happens to touch water rather than through a dedicated water fund.
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 ID Ventures invest in?
- ID Ventures is the venture capital arm of Invest Detroit and backs early-stage, mostly Michigan-based high-tech startups across life sciences, mobility, software, advanced manufacturing and materials. Water is a small slice of that book. Of more than 230 companies it has backed since 2009, only two are water companies.
- Is ID Ventures a water-focused fund?
- No. ID Ventures is a generalist early-stage investor focused on Michigan's startup economy, not a water specialist. Of the 230-plus companies it has backed since 2009, only two are in water. Those bets sit inside a broader advanced-manufacturing and materials thesis, not a dedicated water mandate.
- What water companies has ID Ventures backed?
- ID Ventures has backed two water companies, both early-stage and both hard-tech. Membrion makes ceramic ion-exchange membranes that treat industrial water, and Accelerated Filtration builds high-efficiency filtration systems. ID Ventures led neither round, investing alongside co-investors such as Pangaea Ventures and Michigan ecosystem funds.
- Who runs ID Ventures?
- ID Ventures is run by its managing directors at Invest Detroit. Patti Glaza is Executive Vice President, Venture and Managing Director, and Martin Dober is Senior Vice President, Venture and Managing Director. Prem Bodagala, a Senior Vice President and Director, joined from Michigan Rise and Red Cedar Ventures.
- Is ID Ventures the same as Invest Detroit?
- ID Ventures is the venture capital program of Invest Detroit, the Detroit nonprofit investor, so the two are linked but not identical. ID Ventures is the early-stage equity arm; Invest Detroit also runs lending and community-development financing. The name also collides with unrelated namesake firms, which this profile is not about.