Lyse
Lyse is a Norwegian energy and telecommunications group, not a venture fund, that occasionally backs startups in the infrastructure it operates. Its single water bet is InfoTiles, a Stavanger platform whose analytics help utilities cut leakage and manage wastewater. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water rates Lyse's water commitment One-Off.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Lyse is the utility that powers and connects southwest Norway: a Stavanger group with more than a century of hydropower behind it and, since 1999, a second life as the region's fiber-broadband and mobile operator through its Altibox and Ice brands. Lyse is owned by the municipalities it serves, which is the tell for how it invests, not for a quick return but to build the critical infrastructure its region runs on. Water is not a sector Lyse chases; it is infrastructure Lyse already lives next to.
Lyse's one water company is InfoTiles, and the giveaway is that both sit in the same city. InfoTiles, founded in Stavanger in 2016, builds software that pulls live data off a water network so a utility can find a leak before it floods a street or a pipe fails unseen. Lyse first backed it alongside the Norwegian fund ProVenture in 2021, then came in again in 2023 when the Dutch impact fund 4impact led a follow-on round (a second cheque into the same company). For Lyse, InfoTiles is the digital-water version of the grids and fiber it already operates, not a wager on the water market.
Lyse is, by (don't) Waste Water's count, a One-Off water investor: one company across two seed rounds, never the lead cheque, no second water name yet. That is less a knock than a description of what a utility's strategic investing is for. If a second water bet ever lands at Lyse, expect it to look like InfoTiles, a piece of digital plumbing for the networks Lyse runs, bought because it is useful at home before it is interesting as a deal. Lyse invests in water the way a utility does: close to the pipe, not the portfolio.
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
Frequently asked
- What does Lyse invest in?
- Lyse is primarily a Norwegian energy and telecommunications group, not a dedicated investor, and it takes occasional strategic stakes in startups close to its own infrastructure. Lyse's only water investment is InfoTiles, a Stavanger company whose real-time analytics help water utilities cut leakage and manage wastewater more efficiently.
- Is Lyse a venture capital fund?
- Lyse is not a traditional venture capital fund. Lyse is a municipally owned energy and fiber-broadband group based in Stavanger, Norway, that occasionally invests in startups building technology for the infrastructure it runs. (don't) Waste Water tracks Lyse as a corporate, one-off water investor rather than a water specialist.
- What water company has Lyse backed?
- Lyse has backed one water company, InfoTiles, a fellow Stavanger startup founded in 2016. Lyse invested alongside the Norwegian fund ProVenture in 2021, then joined a 2023 round led by the Dutch fund 4impact. InfoTiles makes digital-water analytics software that helps utilities cut leakage.
- Where is Lyse based?
- Lyse is based in Stavanger, in the Rogaland region of southwest Norway, where it has produced hydropower for over a century. Lyse also operates across Norway and into Denmark through its Altibox fiber and Ice mobile brands, and employs more than 2,000 people.
- Is Lyse the same as Altibox or Ice?
- Altibox and Ice are consumer brands owned by Lyse, not separate companies: Altibox delivers fiber broadband and Ice is a mobile operator. Lyse is the Stavanger parent group behind them, and on (don't) Waste Water it is the entity credited with the InfoTiles water investment.