From UV-LED water purification to atmospheric water generation, Sandberg Development is quietly building a water technology powerhouse in Southern Sweden. As a family-owned investment company with an 83.1% equity ratio, they’re not just writing checks – they’re actively nurturing breakthrough water technologies that could reshape global water access. Their hands-on approach, focusing on early-stage companies through their incubator program, has already produced notable successes like Watersprint and Drupps. For water entrepreneurs and impact investors seeking more than just capital, Sandberg Development offers a compelling model of patient capital combined with deep operational expertise.
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Investor Name: Sandberg Development
Investor Type: Family Office
Latest Fund Size: $ Million
Dry Powder Available: Yes
Typical Ticket Size: <$250k
Investment Themes: UV-C LED Water Disinfection, Atmospheric Water Generation, Industrial Water Purification
Investment History: $5400000 spent over 2 deals
Often Invests Along:
Already Invested In: Drupps, Orbital Systems
Leads or Follows: Lead
Board Seat Appetite: Moderate
Key People: Stefan Persson, Sven-Joel Härgestam, André Carlsson, Ola Hansson, Tom Söberg
The Strategic Water Vision
At the heart of Sandberg Development’s investment strategy lies a profound understanding of water’s critical role in shaping our future. The Swedish family office has cultivated a distinctive approach that merges financial acumen with environmental stewardship, positioning itself as a pivotal force in water technology innovation.
The company’s investment philosophy centers on identifying and nurturing breakthrough technologies that address pressing water challenges. Rather than pursuing quick returns, Sandberg Development takes a patient capital approach, allowing portfolio companies the time and resources needed to develop robust solutions. This long-term perspective has proven essential in the water sector, where technology development and market adoption often require extended timelines.
Sandberg’s strategic focus on water technology stems from a deep recognition of water’s fundamental role in sustainable development. The firm has identified key areas where innovation can drive significant impact: water purification, resource recovery, and sustainable water generation. These focus areas align with global water challenges while offering substantial growth potential.
What sets Sandberg Development apart is its hands-on approach to portfolio management. The firm doesn’t simply provide capital; it actively participates in developing its portfolio companies’ strategic direction. This involvement includes sharing technical expertise, facilitating market access, and fostering collaborations across its network. This approach mirrors successful models discussed in “What do you need to know to invest wisely in water technologies?”
The company’s commitment to sustainable water solutions extends beyond immediate commercial potential. Sandberg Development evaluates potential investments based on their capacity to deliver both environmental impact and financial returns. This dual-focus approach has led to investments in technologies that might be considered too early-stage or risky by traditional venture capital firms.
In southern Sweden’s water technology ecosystem, Sandberg Development has emerged as more than just an investor – it’s become a catalyst for innovation. The firm’s presence has attracted additional talent and capital to the region, creating a virtuous cycle of water technology development. Through strategic partnerships with research institutions and industry players, Sandberg helps bridge the gap between academic innovation and commercial application.
This comprehensive approach to water technology investment reflects a deeper understanding: solving global water challenges requires not just innovative technologies, but also patient capital, strategic support, and long-term commitment. Sandberg Development’s investment philosophy demonstrates how family offices can play a unique role in advancing sustainable water solutions while building lasting value.
Portfolio Deep Dive: UV-LED and Atmospheric Water Generation
At the forefront of Sandberg Development’s water technology portfolio stand two companies that exemplify their commitment to groundbreaking innovation: Watersprint and Drupps. These investments showcase how targeted funding and technical expertise can accelerate the development of sustainable water solutions.
Watersprint has revolutionized water disinfection through its advanced UV-LED technology. Unlike traditional mercury-based UV systems, their solution leverages the precision and efficiency of LED technology to eliminate waterborne pathogens. The compact design allows for unprecedented flexibility in deployment, from individual taps to industrial-scale applications. This technological leap forward reduces energy consumption by up to 90% compared to conventional UV systems while eliminating the environmental risks associated with mercury lamps.
Equally innovative, Drupps represents Sandberg’s venture into atmospheric water generation. The company has developed a unique approach that mimics natural condensation processes but with dramatically improved efficiency. Their technology can extract water from air even in arid conditions with relative humidity as low as 15%. The engineering breakthrough lies in their proprietary desiccant system, which requires significantly less energy than conventional cooling-based atmospheric water generators.
The synergy between these portfolio companies extends beyond their individual innovations. Both demonstrate Sandberg’s strategic focus on scalable technologies that address critical water challenges. Watersprint’s UV-LED systems can be integrated with Drupps’ atmospheric water generators, creating comprehensive solutions for water-stressed regions.
What sets these investments apart is their potential for global impact. Watersprint’s technology is particularly relevant for developing regions where conventional water treatment infrastructure is lacking. Meanwhile, Drupps’ solutions offer promise for both humanitarian applications and commercial use in water-scarce industrial settings.
Through these investments, Sandberg Development demonstrates its ability to identify and nurture technologies that challenge conventional approaches. Their success in commercializing these innovations validates their investment thesis that sustainable water solutions can drive both environmental impact and financial returns.
The Active Ownership Advantage
At the heart of Sandberg Development’s success lies a distinctive approach to investment that transcends the traditional boundaries of capital provision. As a family office focused on water technology innovation, Sandberg has refined an active ownership model that provides portfolio companies with far more than financial backing.
The cornerstone of this approach is deep operational involvement. Rather than taking a passive stance, Sandberg’s leadership team maintains intimate engagement with their portfolio companies through regular board participation and strategic guidance. This hands-on methodology allows them to leverage decades of industry expertise while maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit that drives innovation.
Unlike traditional venture capital firms that often spread their attention across dozens of investments, Sandberg intentionally maintains a focused portfolio. This concentration enables them to dedicate substantial time and resources to each company, fostering an environment where transformative technologies can mature at their optimal pace. The family office structure further enhances this advantage, freeing Sandberg from the typical fund lifecycle constraints that often force premature exits.
Their active ownership model manifests in three key ways. First, they provide strategic guidance that helps companies navigate the complex water technology landscape while avoiding common pitfalls in commercialization. Second, they leverage their extensive network to facilitate crucial industry connections and potential customer relationships. Third, they offer operational support that helps companies build robust business foundations.
This approach has proven particularly valuable in the water sector, where the path from innovation to market adoption often requires patient capital and deep industry knowledge. How to take mid-market green tech companies to the next level demonstrates similar principles at work in the broader environmental technology space.
The benefits for portfolio companies are substantial. Beyond the obvious financial support, they gain access to seasoned industry veterans who understand both the technical and commercial challenges of water technology development. This expertise helps companies refine their go-to-market strategies, optimize their operational processes, and build sustainable business models.
Perhaps most importantly, Sandberg’s active ownership creates a collaborative ecosystem where portfolio companies can share knowledge and resources. This synergistic environment has proven particularly valuable in accelerating the development and adoption of new water technologies, ultimately contributing to their mission of revolutionizing water innovation in Southern Sweden and beyond.
Future Horizons: Scaling Water Innovation
Sandberg Development’s vision for the future of water technology reaches far beyond Southern Sweden’s borders. The family office is strategically positioning itself to address critical global water challenges through targeted investments in scalable solutions.
Recognizing the urgent need for water innovation in an increasingly water-stressed world, Sandberg Development is expanding its investment focus to encompass technologies that can deliver exponential impact. Key priority areas include water reuse technologies, smart infrastructure solutions, and advanced treatment systems that can operate with minimal energy footprint.
The firm’s evolving investment thesis centers on identifying technologies with clear pathways to commercial scale. Rather than pursuing incremental improvements, Sandberg seeks breakthrough innovations that can fundamentally transform how we manage, treat, and conserve water resources. This approach aligns with their proven track record of nurturing early-stage companies into market leaders.
A cornerstone of their scaling strategy involves leveraging Sweden’s robust water technology ecosystem while building strategic partnerships globally. By connecting portfolio companies with international water utilities, industrial end-users, and fellow investors, Sandberg Development creates powerful commercialization pathways that accelerate adoption of promising solutions.
Looking ahead, the firm is particularly focused on technologies that sit at the intersection of water and other critical challenges like climate change, urbanization, and industrial transformation. This includes innovations in resource recovery from wastewater, nature-based treatment solutions, and digital technologies that enable predictive maintenance and operational optimization.
Critically, Sandberg Development recognizes that scaling water innovation requires more than just technological advancement. Their future investment approach emphasizes business model innovation alongside technical breakthroughs. This includes exploring water-as-a-service models, innovative financing mechanisms, and creative approaches to overcoming adoption barriers in conservative water markets.
The firm is also deepening its commitment to measuring and maximizing the environmental and social impact of its investments. By developing robust impact metrics and ensuring portfolio companies embed sustainability principles throughout their operations, Sandberg Development aims to demonstrate that commercial success and positive impact can go hand in hand.
As water sustainability becomes an increasingly critical global priority, Sandberg Development is positioning itself as a key enabler of the solutions needed to secure our water future. Their patient capital approach, technical expertise, and growing global network make them uniquely suited to help promising water innovations achieve meaningful scale.
The Sandberg Philosophy: Patient Capital Meets Technical Mastery
At the heart of Sandberg Development’s success lies a distinctive investment philosophy that sets it apart in the water technology landscape. The family office combines multi-generational patience with deep technical expertise to nurture groundbreaking water innovations in Southern Sweden.
Patient capital forms the bedrock of Sandberg’s approach. Unlike traditional venture capital firms constrained by fixed investment horizons, Sandberg Development takes a long-term view that spans decades rather than years. This patient outlook allows portfolio companies to focus on solving complex technical challenges without pressure for quick exits or premature scaling.
What truly distinguishes Sandberg is how this patient capital intersects with their technical mastery. The investment team brings decades of engineering and water industry experience, enabling them to deeply understand the technologies they back. This expertise manifests in their thorough due diligence process, where potential investments undergo rigorous technical evaluation alongside traditional financial analysis.
The firm’s commitment to sustainable development guides their investment thesis. They seek out technologies that address critical water challenges while maintaining ecological balance. Their evaluation framework weighs environmental impact alongside commercial potential, focusing on solutions that can scale globally while reducing water and energy consumption.
Sandberg’s technical depth allows them to take calculated risks on early-stage technologies that might seem too complex or uncertain for conventional investors. Rather than viewing technical complexity as a barrier, they see it as an opportunity to apply their expertise and create value through hands-on development support.
This approach has proven particularly valuable in water technology, where innovation cycles are typically longer and more capital-intensive than in other sectors. When evaluating potential investments, Sandberg looks beyond immediate market opportunities to assess how technologies might evolve and integrate into future water infrastructure systems.
Their investment strategy also emphasizes collaboration within their portfolio, fostering knowledge sharing and technological synergies between companies. This interconnected approach helps accelerate development cycles and creates resilient solutions that can address multiple aspects of water challenges.
As detailed in a recent analysis of water technology investment strategies, this combination of patient capital and technical expertise has become increasingly crucial for success in the water sector. Sandberg’s model demonstrates how deep industry knowledge, when paired with long-term financial commitment, can effectively bridge the gap between promising technologies and market-ready solutions.
Portfolio Deep Dive: Water Innovation in Action
Sandberg Development’s water technology portfolio stands as a testament to their methodical approach in addressing critical water challenges. Through strategic investments across the water value chain, they have built an ecosystem of complementary solutions that tackle pressing issues like water quality, resource recovery, and infrastructure efficiency.
A cornerstone of their portfolio focuses on advanced membrane technology for water treatment and reuse. By backing research into novel membrane materials and manufacturing processes, Sandberg has helped commercialize solutions that reduce energy consumption by up to 40% while improving contaminant removal rates. These breakthroughs have enabled reliable water recycling in water-stressed regions, particularly benefiting industries with high water demands.
The family office has also made significant strides in resource recovery from wastewater streams. Their portfolio companies have pioneered technologies that extract valuable nutrients and minerals while producing clean water. One notable success transformed traditional wastewater treatment plants into resource recovery hubs, generating revenue from recovered phosphorus and nitrogen while reducing environmental impact.
Sandberg’s commitment to infrastructure optimization has yielded impressive results in leak detection and predictive maintenance. By combining sensor networks with machine learning algorithms, their solutions have helped utilities reduce water losses by up to 30%. This technology now monitors thousands of kilometers of pipeline infrastructure across Southern Sweden, saving billions of liters of water annually.
The company’s patient investment approach has been particularly evident in their work with early-stage water monitoring technologies. Rather than seeking quick returns, they have supported the development of next-generation water quality sensors through multiple iterations. These efforts have resulted in more accurate, real-time monitoring systems that enable proactive water management decisions.
Perhaps most notably, Sandberg has fostered collaboration between portfolio companies, creating powerful synergies. For instance, their membrane technology innovations have been integrated with advanced monitoring systems, creating comprehensive water management solutions that outperform traditional approaches. This collaborative ecosystem approach has amplified the impact of individual investments.
Their recent focus on digital water technologies has accelerated the adoption of smart water solutions. By backing platforms that leverage artificial intelligence and IoT capabilities, Sandberg has helped utilities transition from reactive to predictive operations, significantly improving service reliability while reducing operational costs.
The impact of Sandberg’s portfolio extends beyond technological innovation – it demonstrates how patient capital, coupled with deep technical expertise, can drive sustainable transformation in the water sector. As explored in this analysis of water technology investment approaches, their success underscores the importance of long-term commitment in water innovation.
Impact Metrics: Measuring Success Beyond Returns
At Sandberg Development, success extends far beyond traditional financial metrics. The family office has pioneered a comprehensive impact measurement framework that evaluates their water technology investments through both economic and environmental lenses.
Central to their assessment methodology is water conservation impact. Each portfolio company must track and report actual water savings achieved through their technologies and solutions. This includes direct measurements of reduced water withdrawal, improved water reuse rates, and enhanced treatment efficiencies. The metrics are normalized across different applications and geographies to enable meaningful portfolio-wide analysis.
Energy efficiency improvements form another critical pillar of their impact tracking. By measuring the energy intensity of water and wastewater treatment processes, Sandberg can quantify both operational cost reductions and associated carbon emission decreases. Portfolio companies regularly report their solutions’ energy consumption relative to conventional alternatives, with several achieving 40-60% reductions.
The framework also captures broader sustainability indicators aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These include access to clean water, ecosystem protection, and circular economy contributions. For instance, technologies that help utilities detect and prevent water losses are evaluated based on volume of water preserved and associated economic value for communities.
What sets Sandberg’s approach apart is their emphasis on verified, real-world impact data rather than theoretical projections. Portfolio companies must implement robust measurement and verification protocols, often leveraging digital monitoring systems and third-party audits. This data-driven methodology has helped establish credibility with co-investors while providing actionable insights for continuous improvement.
The impact metrics also inform Sandberg’s investment decisions and portfolio management strategy. Companies demonstrating exceptional environmental performance often receive follow-on funding to scale their solutions. Meanwhile, those struggling to meet impact targets receive additional support and resources to optimize their technologies.
Beyond individual company assessments, Sandberg aggregates impact data to evaluate their overall contribution to water sustainability. This portfolio-wide view helps identify synergies between investments and opportunities to amplify positive outcomes through collaboration. The comprehensive impact measurement approach has become a model for other impact investors in the water sector, demonstrating how financial returns and environmental benefits can be optimized in parallel.
Future Horizons: Sandberg’s Vision for Water Innovation
As Sandberg Development charts its course for the coming decade, the family office is positioning itself at the forefront of transformative water technologies that address mounting global challenges. Building on its successful track record of nurturing breakthrough innovations, Sandberg has identified several key investment themes that will shape its strategic focus.
At the core of Sandberg’s forward-looking strategy is the integration of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics into water infrastructure. The firm sees tremendous potential in solutions that leverage AI to optimize treatment processes, predict maintenance needs, and enable real-time decision making. This aligns with growing industry demands for smarter, more responsive water systems.
Resource recovery represents another crucial frontier. Sandberg is actively exploring technologies that can extract valuable materials from wastewater streams while simultaneously treating water for reuse. This dual-benefit approach not only improves the economics of water treatment but also advances circular economy principles.
Decentralized treatment systems have emerged as a particular area of interest. Sandberg recognizes that the future of water infrastructure may not lie in massive centralized facilities, but rather in distributed networks of smaller, more adaptable treatment units. This vision dovetails with increasing needs for resilient water systems that can serve both urban and rural communities.
For entrepreneurs seeking partnership with Sandberg, the firm has refined its investment criteria to emphasize scalable solutions that demonstrate clear paths to commercialization. While maintaining its commitment to breakthrough technologies, Sandberg now places greater emphasis on business models that can achieve market adoption within shorter timeframes.
Co-investment opportunities are being structured to allow for collaborative approaches to technology development. Sandberg’s deep industry expertise and extensive network make it an attractive partner for other investors looking to enter the water technology space. The firm is particularly interested in forming alliances that can accelerate the deployment of promising solutions across multiple markets.
Looking ahead, Sandberg remains committed to its patient capital approach while adapting to evolving market dynamics. The firm’s investment strategy increasingly emphasizes solutions that can address multiple challenges simultaneously – from water quality and scarcity to energy efficiency and climate resilience.
This strategic evolution reflects Sandberg’s understanding that tomorrow’s water challenges require not just technological innovation, but new models of collaboration and implementation. By fostering partnerships between entrepreneurs, investors, and industry stakeholders, Sandberg aims to catalyze the next wave of water technology breakthroughs.
Final words
Sandberg Development stands as a compelling example of how focused, patient capital combined with deep operational expertise can accelerate water technology innovation. Their investment approach – emphasizing early-stage companies, maintaining active ownership, and providing comprehensive support beyond mere funding – has proven particularly effective in the water sector. The success of portfolio companies like Watersprint and Drupps demonstrates the value of their hands-on strategy, while their strong financial position (83.1% equity ratio) ensures continued ability to support promising water technologies. For water entrepreneurs, Sandberg offers more than capital – they provide a true partnership model that can help navigate the unique challenges of commercializing water technology. For impact investors, they showcase how strategic focus and active ownership can drive both innovation and returns in the water sector. As global water challenges intensify, Sandberg Development’s approach to nurturing water technology innovation may well serve as a blueprint for other investors seeking to make a meaningful impact in this crucial sector.
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