Burnt Island Ventures

A very happy 2025 to you from all of us at BIV. Please find the Monthly Update LI below. It was a strong finish to the year, particularly from NLine Energy, Inc., HOPE Hydration, Cala Systems, TeamSolve, Daupler and Aqua Membranes, Inc. (though that list could be a lot longer). 2024 reminded us of a lot of time-honored startup wisdom, and of the folly of prediction. But predictably, we predict some things here anyway - https://lnkd.in/epN7YijK Finally, our thoughts are with the citizens of Los Angeles - if we can help those affected in any way, please let us know.

"I like helping people move. You can't just say, “Do it.” You have to help them see another way." Tune into Episode 31 of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Felicia Marcus. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/eqXJa3jv

We're teaming up with our friends at Convective Capital for a 🔥 Fire & 💧Water #SFClimateWeek mixer. Come hang with the Climate Adaptation crew— founders, funders, and everyone in between. Whether you’re building, investing, or just curious, come raise a glass and meet others driving this core (and too often overlooked) part of the climate landscape forward. When: Tuesday, April 22 Time: 7:30PM - 9:30PM Location: To be confirmed on registration Register here: https://lu.ma/bd286tqm

Well said, Steve Kloos. We couldn't agree more. #EndWaterNow! 👊💧 Happy April Fools'! 😜

Felicia Marcus is one of the most significant public servants in water, having served on the Board of Public Works for the City of LA, served as Regional Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Region 9, COO of the Trust for Public Land and Western Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As if that wasn't enough, she was also the Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board of California during the business end of the 2011-2017 California drought, which was rather scary and is now taking a “breather” as a Fellow at Stanford University's “Water in the West Program.” Felicia is delightful, the speed of her mind matched only by the quality of her communication. We're so lucky to have such extraordinarily dedicated people who choose service when they could be doing a lot of different things, and the water sector is so much better off for it. Please enjoy my conversation with the excellent Felicia Marcus. Tune into our 31st episode of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Felicia Marcus. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/eqXJa3jv

“Flocean uses natural deep-sea pressure to cut power consumption. 40% energy efficiency savings are not abnormal." Tune into Episode 32 of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Alexander Fuglesang, Founder and CEO of FLOCEAN Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/ejxnDSs9

What a pleasure to host such an outstanding group of LPs for a fourth AGM yesterday. We're truly grateful to get to work on your behalf. Special shout-out to Matthew Swindle, Alexander Fuglesang and Craig Beckman for their company presentations, and to Daisy Chen and Caleb Powers for joining us for a special panel on the future of water. Onward!

Sometimes things just strike you as dumb and then one day you understand why. The current model of desalination is a great example. It's something that everyone thinks that we at BIV should be invested in up to the eyeballs, and, of course, we support technologies that are pertinent to desal, but the legacy model is just a tough nut to crack. Ever more scaled plants to minimize the per gallon cost of purified water is the name of the game. So when I met Alexander Fuglesang and the full FLOCEAN team, it was like a light bulb going off. Legacy desal was dumb for the simple reason you were pumping up onto land a whole load of water, putting all of it through a giant factory, having designed it for all of that water, then throwing at least 40% of it back into the ocean. So what if you could desalinate under the surface of the sea and get rid of all that excess capacity? You don't run into paradigm shifts all the time, but we think that Flocean is one of them. Alex is a superb guy with a fascinating skill set, having spent most of his life operating machinery at inhospitable depths, and he's on a remarkable mission to put a huge dent in global water insecurity. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Fugelsang. Tune into our 32nd episode of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Alexander Fuglesang, Founder and CEO at FLOCEAN. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/ejxnDSs9

The funding gap in US water/wastewater utilities and is $110B/yr increasing 10%/yr, according to McKinsey & Company: "closing the gap will require rethinking how water systems are funded across the country, ... leaders can play key roles in making existing funding go much further". Yep! There's zero chance that doing things the old way will work for the future - the money isn't there to pay for it. What do we do? Call 1-800-inno-vation! Good news: There's a new cohort of innovators with new ways of doing things, for example SewerAI, Daupler, TeamSolve, Ziptility, CivilGrid, Subeca, Aclarity, AlgaFilm Technologies Ltd., SwiftComply, ... And it's not just a US problem, either. Details from McKinsey here: https://lnkd.in/gNEynwQu

If you were to add up the economic costs of natural disasters globally, the cost of flooding would far exceed the total cost of wind, fire, and ice combined at a staggering $179.8 - $496 billion per year in the US alone. Previsico is tackling the problem headlong with a live flood forecasting solution that provides timely, accurate and high-resolution predictions of floods 48 hours in advance of an event, allowing property owners to take action to protect their property. It’s a step-change in how we think about climate change adaptation, and we’re thrilled to be a part of the next step in the journey. Jonathan Jackson, Dapeng Yu and Dr Avi Baruch and the entire Previsico team, thanks for letting us tag along. Here’s why we did it.