Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's national economic development agency and a public co-investor in water technology, not a private venture fund. Backed by the Scottish Government, it puts public money alongside private syndicates rather than leading rounds. As of 2026 it has backed 3 water companies across 4 deals, and has never led one.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Scottish Enterprise is not a venture fund, which is the first thing to understand before reading its water deals. It is Scotland's national economic development agency, a public body of the Scottish Government created in 1991 to grow the country's economy, and water technology is one small thread inside a much larger remit spanning energy transition, innovation and productivity. When Scottish Enterprise joins a funding round, the money is public capital with an economic-development job to do, not a return-seeking cheque from a private partnership.
Scottish Enterprise has backed 3 water companies across 4 deals, and the telling number is that it has led none of them. Its investment arm, long branded the Scottish Investment Bank, puts up matching public money that sits alongside private syndicates rather than setting the terms: Scotmas, the Kelso maker of chlorine-dioxide water-disinfection systems; MiAlgae, which turns whisky-distillery by-products into omega-3 using microalgae; and SeaWarm, a University of Edinburgh spin-out building heat exchangers that draw warmth from rivers and seawater. The same Scottish backers, Equity Gap and Old College Capital, keep reappearing in those rounds beside it.
Scottish Enterprise reshaped its investment leadership in March 2025, when Kerry Sharp, who had run the Scottish Investment Bank for a decade, became the agency's first Chief Finance and Investment Officer and Derek Shaw stepped up as Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment. The read I would give a newcomer is plain: Scottish Enterprise is the patient, public half of Scotland's water-investment ecosystem, the body that helps a university spin-out or a family-owned treatment firm reach the point where private capital will follow. It is a co-investor you want in the room, not the one you pitch for a lead.
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 · 3 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Scottish Enterprise invest in?
- Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's national economic development agency, not a sector fund. It deploys public money across energy transition, innovation and high-growth Scottish companies, with water technology one thread among many. Its water bets span disinfection, microalgae and clean heat drawn from water, always alongside private co-investors.
- Does Scottish Enterprise lead funding rounds?
- Scottish Enterprise has led none of its water deals. It acts as matching public capital that joins rounds set by private syndicates and angel groups such as Equity Gap and Old College Capital, helping Scottish companies reach the scale where commercial investors are willing to come in.
- What water companies has Scottish Enterprise backed?
- Scottish Enterprise has backed three water companies across four deals: Scotmas, a Kelso maker of chlorine-dioxide disinfection systems; MiAlgae, which grows omega-3 microalgae on whisky-distillery by-products; and SeaWarm, a University of Edinburgh spin-out building heat exchangers that draw warmth from rivers and seawater.
- Who runs investment at Scottish Enterprise?
- Scottish Enterprise runs investment through its Entrepreneurship and Investment directorate, led since March 2025 by Director Derek Shaw. Kerry Sharp, who headed the Scottish Investment Bank for a decade, is now Chief Finance and Investment Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Adrian Gillespie.
- Is Scottish Enterprise a private venture fund?
- No. Scottish Enterprise is a public body of the Scottish Government, founded in 1991 as the country's economic development agency. It deploys taxpayer-backed capital to grow Scotland's economy, so its water investments serve a public mission rather than chasing financial returns alone.