Main Sequence
Main Sequence is an Australian deep-tech venture capital firm, born out of the national science agency CSIRO in 2017, that turns laboratory research into companies across food, space and climate. It manages more than a billion dollars across three funds. As of 2026 it backs 2 water companies across 2 deals, both cutting water out of dirty industrial processes.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Main Sequence did not start as a fund chasing returns. It began in 2017 as the CSIRO Innovation Fund, the vehicle Australia's national science agency built to turn its own laboratory discoveries, and the research sitting on university shelves, into companies. That science-first DNA still runs through everything Main Sequence backs, from synthetic biology to space, and it is the lens to read its handful of water bets through.
Main Sequence is not a water fund, and its two water-tracked companies show exactly why that is worth a newcomer's attention: both attack water by removing it. ElectraLith pulls battery-grade lithium straight out of brine with an electrochemical membrane, skipping the sprawling evaporation ponds and acid baths that conventional lithium leans on. Xefco colours and finishes textiles with a plasma process that uses almost no water and creates no wastewater, in an industry that is one of the planet's biggest water polluters.
Main Sequence runs on a challenge model: each partner shepherds a big theme, such as feeding ten billion people or decarbonising industry, and the firm often helps build companies from scratch rather than waiting for a pitch deck. For a newcomer, Main Sequence is what water looks like to a deep-tech generalist: not pipes and treatment plants, but membranes, chemistry and materials science aimed at the industrial processes that waste the most water. Watch where its scientists point that lens 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 · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Main Sequence invest in?
- Main Sequence invests in deep-tech and frontier-science startups, the kind spun out of laboratories and universities, across food, space, climate, health and industrial technology. Its two water-tracked companies sit on the industrial side: ElectraLith in waterless lithium extraction and Xefco in waterless textile dyeing.
- Who runs Main Sequence?
- Main Sequence was founded in 2017 to manage Australia's CSIRO Innovation Fund and is led by Managing Partner and co-founder Bill Bartee, alongside partners Mike Zimmerman, Phil Morle, Martin Duursma, Mike Nicholls and Gabrielle Munzer, each steering one of the fund's deep-tech challenge areas.
- Where is Main Sequence based?
- Main Sequence is based in Eveleigh, inner Sydney, Australia, on the Australian Technology Park campus, and invests across Australia and New Zealand. Born out of the national science agency CSIRO in 2017, it manages more than a billion dollars across three deep-tech funds.
- What stage does Main Sequence invest at?
- Main Sequence invests early, from a startup's first institutional cheque through Series A, and frequently helps create companies from scratch through its company-building program rather than waiting for a finished pitch. Its two water deals were a Seed round in Xefco and a Series A in ElectraLith.
- Is Main Sequence a water-focused fund?
- No. Main Sequence is a generalist deep-tech venture firm, not a water fund, and should not be confused with Main Sequence Technologies, the US recruiting-software company. Within its portfolio, (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 water companies across 2 deals and rates its water commitment Committed.