Sowefund
Sowefund is a Paris-based equity crowdfunding platform, regulated by France's AMF markets watchdog, that lets retail investors back startups on the same terms as professional funds. Generalist by design, it has channelled more than €120 million into over 140 fundraising rounds since 2014; in water, its single holding is the Grenoble electrode startup Anodine.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Sowefund is the odd one out on this directory: it runs no fund of its own. Since 2014 the Paris platform has let ordinary people invest from as little as €100 into young companies, on the same terms and inside the same rounds as the professional funds and business-angel networks it sits beside. That co-investment model is the entire pitch, the crowd riding alongside the institutions rather than in front of them.
Sowefund has grown into one of France's larger equity-crowdfunding sites, channelling more than €120 million into over 140 fundraising rounds for upwards of 120 companies, with a community north of 130,000 registered investors. In October 2023 it was bought by Founders Future, the seed-stage firm of serial entrepreneur Marc Menase, though co-founders Benjamin Wattinne and Georges Viglietti still run it day to day. It is a generalist, tilted toward impact and tech, not a water specialist.
Sowefund's water record is a single name, and it is a pointed one: Anodine, a Grenoble deeptech built on roughly a decade of CNRS and Universite Grenoble Alpes research. Anodine makes rechargeable electrodes that halve the rare strategic metals, ruthenium above all, used in water treatment, salt electrolysis and PFAS 'forever chemical' clean-up, and wants to re-shore to France a component the country now imports. Sowefund has backed it across two rounds, opening them to its crowd alongside Grenoble Angels, Bpifrance and regional banks.
For a newcomer that is the honest read on Sowefund: patient, retail-friendly capital with professional co-investors vetting each deal, paired with a water track record of exactly one company. Half of what it lists leans impact and deeptech, so if a second water bet arrives it will probably look a lot like Anodine, a lab-born French hardware story the crowd can own a slice of.
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 Sowefund invest in?
- Sowefund is a generalist equity-crowdfunding platform that backs mostly French tech and impact startups at seed stage, chosen deal by deal rather than from a single fund. In water its sole holding is Anodine, a Grenoble maker of cleaner electrodes for water treatment and PFAS clean-up.
- How does Sowefund work?
- Sowefund is a co-investment platform: retail investors can put in from about €100 on the same terms as the professional funds and business angels in each round. Regulated by France's AMF markets watchdog, it operates deal by deal, with no committed fund or dry powder of its own.
- Who owns and runs Sowefund?
- Sowefund was founded in 2014 by Benjamin Wattinne, Georges Viglietti and Jean-Philippe Leflot. Wattinne is chief executive and Viglietti president; both still lead it after Founders Future, the seed-stage VC of entrepreneur Marc Menase, acquired the platform in October 2023.
- Where is Sowefund based?
- Sowefund is based in Paris, France, on Rue du Quatre Septembre, and has operated since 2014. It is regulated by the AMF, France's financial-markets authority, and has built a community of more than 130,000 registered investors across the country.
- Does Sowefund invest in water?
- Sowefund is a generalist platform, not a water specialist, and (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional. Its one water company is Anodine, a Grenoble deeptech whose rechargeable electrodes cut rare-metal use in water treatment and PFAS depollution, backed across two funding rounds.