mHUB
mHUB is a Chicago hardtech and manufacturing innovation center whose venture arm, mHUB Ventures, backs early-stage physical-product startups in energy, medtech, and manufacturing. Its water investing runs through the Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator it co-runs with Current. As of 2026, mHUB has backed 7 water companies across 7 deals, leading 2.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
mHUB's water portfolio is, quite literally, a single class. All seven of the water companies mHUB Ventures backs came in through one program: the Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator it launched in 2025 with Current, Chicago's water-innovation hub and lead of the federally funded Great Lakes ReNEW coalition. These are one cohort, not seven separate convictions: Amplify Dynamics, FloNergia, Grapherry, Nano Gas, Noah System, Rhoic, and Spacedrip, admitted together in late 2025 to spend six months in mHUB's prototyping shops working on contaminant removal, energy-efficient aeration, nanobubbles, and on-site reuse.
mHUB itself is a hardtech generalist. It is a Chicago manufacturing innovation center, founded in 2017, whose venture arm writes early, standardized cheques into the startups passing through its accelerators. Across its two Spark Funds it has backed more than 60 startups in energy, medtech, and smart manufacturing, and water is the newest door it has opened. As of October 2025, mHUB Ventures announced a first close of Spark Fund II, targeting $20 million to back 65 hardtech startups over four years.
For a newcomer, the read is straightforward. mHUB led 2 of its 7 water rounds and supported the rest, and what it offers a founder is the thing a cheque alone cannot buy: prototyping labs, pilot sites, and a Great Lakes manufacturing network wrapped around a six-month program. If you are an early water-hardware team that needs a workshop as much as capital, mHUB is a credible first backer; if you want a water-thesis lead investor, this is not that 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 · 7 water companies
Frequently asked
- What does mHUB invest in?
- mHUB Ventures, the investing arm of Chicago innovation center mHUB, backs early-stage physical-product startups across energy, medical technology, and smart manufacturing. It invests at pre-seed and seed stage, mostly into hardware teams moving through its accelerators. Water is one program inside that broader hardtech mandate, not a standalone thesis.
- What water companies has mHUB backed?
- mHUB Ventures has backed seven water companies, all from the 2026 Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator: Amplify Dynamics, FloNergia, Grapherry, Nano Gas, Noah System, Rhoic, and Spacedrip. Their work spans contaminant and lead removal, energy-efficient aeration, nanobubbles, carbon-to-materials, and compact on-site water reuse and treatment.
- What is mHUB's Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator?
- mHUB's Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator is a six-month program it launched in 2025 with Current, Chicago's water-innovation hub. Each cohort company gets a standardized package of cash and in-kind support plus an equity stake from mHUB Ventures, along with prototyping labs, pilot sites, and the Great Lakes ReNEW coalition network.
- Who runs mHUB Ventures?
- mHUB Ventures is led by Haven Allen, CEO and co-founder of mHUB and Managing Partner of its Spark Funds. Thierry Van Landegem, Executive Director of the mHUB Accelerator, runs the Sustainable Water Tech Accelerator, and Chief Experience Officer Melissa Lederer is a managing partner. The firm is based in Chicago.
- Is mHUB a water-focused investor?
- No. mHUB is a hardtech and manufacturing generalist, not a water-focused fund. Its seven water investments all arrived through one accelerator cohort run with Current, rather than a dedicated water strategy. For a founder it can be a strong first backer; for anyone seeking a water-thesis lead investor, it is not that.