Silicon Valley VC close to investing in Singapore water startup

DCVC, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that focuses on climate technology, is close to investing in a little-known Singaporean water startup, said Managing Partner Zachary Bogue.

“We are looking very seriously at this water company,” Bogue said in an interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday (Nov 15). He declined to name the local upstart because the deal has yet to be finalised. He said DCVC was drawn to the company’s novel technology to produce water out of air.

DCVC has co-invested with Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings in climate tech startups including Pivot Bio, a Berkeley, California-based firm that deploys microbes that capture nitrogen in the air to nourish crops, an alternative to conventional fertilisers. Another is Samsara Eco, an Australian startup that developed enzymes to break down plastics into their foundational building blocks so they can be reconstituted into new items.

Bogue was an early mover in climate tech investing. After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in environmental science, he co-founded DCVC more than a decade ago. The VC firm, which has US$3 billion under management, is currently raising its 13th, climate-specific fund, he said.

The New Economy Forum is being organised by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. BLOOMBERG