Oval Park Capital
Oval Park Capital is a Raleigh, North Carolina venture capital (VC) firm, founded in 2018, that backs early-stage deeptech and hardtech founders across the underserved Southeastern United States. Its water exposure runs through a single bet, the reverse-osmosis membrane startup NALA Membranes. As of June 2026, (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Oval Park Capital wears the word contrarian as a job description, not a slogan. Justin Wright-Eakes founded it in Raleigh in 2018, first as a fundless sponsor writing cheques from his own network through special-purpose vehicles, before raising a first committed fund in 2021. The wager was geographic as much as technical: that the best hardtech founders were sitting in the Southeastern United States, overlooked by a Silicon Valley that rarely visits.
Oval Park Capital backs early-stage deeptech and hardtech, the physical and industrial kind: advanced manufacturing and materials, AI infrastructure, robotics and automation, and climate tech. For a newcomer, the useful translation is that Oval Park funds atoms, not apps, the unglamorous machinery that older industries quietly run on. Water is not a stated thesis here; it arrives through the climate-and-industrial door.
Oval Park Capital's water footprint is, for now, a single conviction bet: NALA Membranes, a startup building next-generation reverse-osmosis membranes, the thin sheets that do the actual work inside a water-treatment or desalination plant. Oval Park has backed it across multiple rounds with the high-conviction, roll-up-your-sleeves posture it calls early and active. One water company across three funding rounds is a thin book, but a deliberate one.
Oval Park Capital is, for a water reader, a deeptech generalist with one foot in the water, and (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed as of June 2026. As of 2026 the firm is raising its second flagship venture fund, Venture Fund II, which is where the next water bet, if there is one, would come from. Whether NALA stays a one-off or the start of a pattern is the open question worth watching.
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
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Oval Park Capital invest in?
- Oval Park Capital invests in early-stage deeptech and hardtech startups, the physical and industrial kind, spanning advanced manufacturing and materials, AI infrastructure, robotics and automation, and climate tech. Founded in 2018, it backs founders in the underserved Southeastern United States from the seed stage onward, taking an early, hands-on role.
- Is Oval Park Capital a water fund?
- Oval Park Capital is not a water-only fund; it is a deeptech and hardtech generalist based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its water exposure is a single investment, NALA Membranes, a reverse-osmosis membrane startup. (don't) Waste Water rates its overall water commitment Committed as of June 2026.
- Who runs Oval Park Capital?
- Oval Park Capital was founded in 2018 and is led by Justin Wright-Eakes, its Founder and Managing Partner, who started the firm after investment-banking and hedge-fund roles in New York. The investment team also includes Senior Associates Evan Shear and Pierce Gibson, working from Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Where is Oval Park Capital based?
- Oval Park Capital is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the United States. Founded in 2018, the firm deliberately invests across the Southeastern United States and other overlooked startup ecosystems, a contrarian strategy that looks for value beyond the usual Silicon Valley and coastal venture hubs.
- What water companies has Oval Park Capital backed?
- Oval Park Capital has backed one water company, NALA Membranes (formerly NALA Systems), which develops next-generation reverse-osmosis membranes used to treat and desalinate water. Oval Park has invested across multiple rounds, reflecting the high-conviction approach it applies to its hardtech bets.