Natural Ventures
Natural Ventures is an Abu Dhabi based, impact-driven venture capital fund that invests in technology for global water and food security. It reached a first close of its $100 million inaugural fund in July 2024, anchored by Germany's Helm AG. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water tracks 4 water companies across 5 deals, from membranes to micro-irrigation.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Natural Ventures is one of the rare venture funds that treats water and food security as a single problem rather than two separate themes. The fund reached a first close of its $100 million debut fund in July 2024, anchored by Germany's chemicals group Helm AG and a Swiss agri-tech family office, and it writes cheques into proven technology with real commercial traction. Its whole thesis sits on the water-food nexus, the uncomfortable fact that growing food is how the world spends most of its fresh water.
Natural Ventures did not begin in Abu Dhabi, even though that is where its licence sits today. Managing Partner Maarten ter Keurst learned the water trade at PureTerra Ventures, a water-only fund, writing deals out of its Shanghai office before co-founding Natural with Mark Jenkins, a corporate-finance veteran. They planted the fund inside Abu Dhabi's ADGM deliberately, betting that the Gulf, where water is scarce and most food is imported, is where this technology gets bought first.
Natural Ventures backs the unglamorous middle of the water stack. (don't) Waste Water tracks 4 water companies across 5 deals: Active Membranes in next-generation water-treatment membranes, N-Drip in gravity-powered micro-irrigation, Irrigreen in robotic precision sprinklers, and constellr, whose thermal-infrared satellites read crop water stress from orbit. The throughline is water that grows food: treatment, irrigation, and the data to use less of it.
What makes Natural Ventures worth watching is who it put around the table. Its operating bench includes Benjamin Tam, who runs the water consultancy Isle Utilities, with membrane scientist Eric Hoek as an advisor, so the technical diligence is done by people who have actually run the plants. This is patient, expert capital pointed at a region that has no choice but to solve water, and that combination is still rarer than it should be.
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 · 4 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Natural Ventures invest in?
- Natural Ventures invests in proven technology for global water and food security. Within water, (don't) Waste Water tracks 4 companies it backs: Active Membranes in water-treatment membranes, N-Drip in gravity micro-irrigation, Irrigreen in robotic sprinklers, and constellr in satellite crop-water monitoring.
- Where is Natural Ventures based?
- Natural Ventures is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the United Arab Emirates, and runs a European office in The Hague, Netherlands. Founded in 2021, the fund chose the Gulf for the region's strategic focus on food and water security.
- Who runs Natural Ventures?
- Natural Ventures is led by two Managing Partners: Maarten ter Keurst, who previously invested at the water-only fund PureTerra Ventures, and Mark Jenkins, a corporate-finance veteran. Operating Partner Dr. Benjamin Tam, CEO of water consultancy Isle Utilities, leads the fund's technical water diligence.
- How big is Natural Ventures' fund?
- Natural Ventures announced a first close of its inaugural fund, Natural Ventures Fund I, with $100 million in commitments in July 2024. Anchor investors include Germany's chemicals group Helm AG and Chemovateq, a Swiss agri-tech family office, alongside a strategic UAE investor.
- Is Natural Ventures the same as the US firm Natural Ventures?
- No. This profile covers Natural Ventures, the Abu Dhabi based, impact-driven water and food security VC founded in 2021 (natural.ventures). It is unrelated to similarly named firms, including a Salt Lake City renewables company that shares the name. The two are separate businesses.