Wheatsheaf Group Limited
Wheatsheaf Group Limited is the food and agriculture investment arm of the UK's Grosvenor Estate, now operating as Grosvenor Food & AgTech. Created in 2012, it backs food and farming technology companies as a lead investor and board member. In water, the Leviathan database tracks two companies, the nutrient-recovery firm Ostara and hygiene-tech maker Ozo Innovations, across four deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Wheatsheaf Group Limited is the investing arm that the Grosvenor Estate, the centuries-old property and business empire of the Duke of Westminster's family, built to move money beyond bricks and land into the technology that feeds people. Set up in 2012, it took the family name outright in January 2022, rebranding as Grosvenor Food & AgTech, and today runs a portfolio of more than twenty food and farming companies across the UK and North America.
Wheatsheaf's water exposure sits at the point where food and water meet. Its biggest water bet is Ostara, a North American company whose technology pulls phosphorus and nitrogen out of municipal and agricultural wastewater and turns them into commercial fertiliser, closing a loop that usually ends with those nutrients polluting rivers. Wheatsheaf backed Ostara for years before buying it outright in 2020. The other tracked name, Ozo Innovations, makes a salt-and-water disinfectant for food factories. Two companies, four deals, and no water-fund branding: the Leviathan database rates Wheatsheaf an occasional water investor, and the label fits.
Wheatsheaf has been led since November 2025 by joint managing partners Monty Bayer and Katrin Burt, after a four-partner team was streamlined to two. Bayer is the clearest link between the fund and its water work: he runs the food and ag practice and is also chief executive of Ostara, the nutrient-recovery company at the centre of the portfolio. Much of the fund's earlier cleantech and water credibility came through Stephan Dolezalek, who built VantagePoint's billion-dollar clean-technology practice before joining in 2019 and leaving in 2025.
Wheatsheaf Group Limited, for a newcomer, reads as a patient, family-backed investor that treats water as part of a bigger food-system thesis rather than a category of its own. The clean water it cares about is the kind that comes back out of a farm or a factory, recovered and resold. As Grosvenor Food & AgTech, with a base in London and an office in Palo Alto, it is likeliest to keep meeting water where it already invests, at the nutrient-and-resource edge of agriculture.
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 · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Wheatsheaf Group invest in?
- Wheatsheaf Group, now Grosvenor Food & AgTech, invests in food and agriculture technology companies, from soil and crop science to food production and supply. It backs businesses as a lead investor and active board member. In water, the Leviathan database tracks two companies: nutrient-recovery firm Ostara and hygiene-tech maker Ozo Innovations.
- Is Wheatsheaf Group the same as Grosvenor Food & AgTech?
- Yes. Wheatsheaf Group Limited was renamed Grosvenor Food & AgTech in January 2022, taking the name of its owner, the Grosvenor Estate, the Duke of Westminster's family business. The fund and its team stayed the same; only the brand moved closer to its parent. An earlier name was Wheatsheaf Investments.
- Who runs Wheatsheaf Group?
- Wheatsheaf Group, now Grosvenor Food & AgTech, has been led since November 2025 by joint managing partners Monty Bayer and Katrin Burt. Bayer also serves as chief executive of Ostara, the fund's nutrient-recovery company. Earlier managing partners Anthony James and Stephan Dolezalek left the firm in 2025.
- Where is Wheatsheaf Group based?
- Wheatsheaf Group, trading as Grosvenor Food & AgTech, is based in London at 70 Grosvenor Street, the Grosvenor Estate's Mayfair headquarters, with a second office in Palo Alto, California. The two bases reflect its dual focus on UK and North American food and agriculture technology companies.
- How many water companies has Wheatsheaf Group backed?
- Wheatsheaf Group has backed two water companies across four deals, according to the Leviathan database, which rates its water commitment occasional. The two are Ostara, which recovers phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater for fertiliser, and Ozo Innovations, which makes a salt-and-water disinfectant for food production.