Maven Capital Partners
Maven Capital Partners is a UK private equity and venture capital firm, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Glasgow, that backs small and growing British businesses, including water-technology companies, through the regional and government-backed funds it manages. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 5 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Maven Capital Partners is one of the UK's larger regional private-equity and venture-capital houses, born in 2009 when Bill Nixon led a management buyout of Aberdeen Asset Management's private-equity arm. It runs money for both institutions and everyday investors, through management buyouts, growth-capital deals, and tax-efficient Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs, funds that hand UK retail investors a tax break for backing small companies).
Maven is a generalist, not a water specialist, and that is the key to reading its water deals. The firm backs ambitious small companies across many sectors, and water technology turns up because Maven manages the regional, government-backed funds that finance British SMEs. Its water cheques come through development funds, not a dedicated water thesis: the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, the Investment Fund for Scotland, and the Finance Durham Fund.
Maven Capital Partners' tracked water deals share one pattern: industrial treatment, not utilities. Maven backed Scotmas, a Kelso firm whose chlorine-dioxide systems disinfect water and food-contact surfaces, in 2025 through the Investment Fund for Scotland alongside Scottish Enterprise. It has supported Evove, a Cheshire company coating membranes with graphene oxide to filter water more efficiently, since 2018 through NPIF - Maven Equity Finance. Both are hardware companies solving dirty-water problems at industrial scale.
Maven is, to my eye, a useful reminder that a lot of water gets funded by generalists who would never call themselves water investors. The firm now sits inside wealth manager Mattioli Woods, with roughly 120 staff spread across a dozen UK offices. The signal to watch is whether water keeps surfacing in its regional funds, because that is where a great deal of unglamorous, essential water infrastructure quietly gets its first cheque.
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 Maven Capital Partners invest in?
- Maven Capital Partners invests in small and growing UK companies across many sectors, from management buyouts to growth capital. In water, (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 companies it backs: Scotmas, a chlorine-dioxide water-treatment business, and Evove, a graphene-oxide membrane maker.
- Who runs Maven Capital Partners?
- Maven Capital Partners is led by managing partner Bill Nixon, who founded the firm in 2009 through a management buyout of Aberdeen Asset Management's private-equity team. It employs around 120 staff and is owned by UK wealth manager Mattioli Woods.
- Where is Maven Capital Partners based?
- Maven Capital Partners is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and runs one of the UK's wider regional office networks, with bases in cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Newcastle, and Nottingham. That footprint lets it back small companies close to where they operate.
- Does Maven Capital Partners invest in water?
- Yes, though Maven Capital Partners is a generalist rather than a water specialist. It backs 2 water companies across 5 deals, Scotmas and Evove, through the regional development funds it manages: the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, the Investment Fund for Scotland, and the Finance Durham Fund.
- Is this the same as Maven Capital Partners in Atlanta?
- No. This profile covers Maven Capital Partners, the UK private equity and venture capital firm founded in 2009 and based in Glasgow. It is unrelated to the similarly named Atlanta investment advisor, and it is a subsidiary of UK wealth manager Mattioli Woods.