Burnt Island Ventures

I said September would be pretty brutal, and it delivered in spades, so much so that it expanded into October, because there wasn’t room in September for the deluge of stuff. This is the latest we have sent one because the last six weeks have been unrelenting but…..productive. More below. Thanks as ever for reading.

It's always worth paying attention to top-level consultants as crucial advisors to their usually enormous clients. They have their finger on the pulse of the practical needs of the market and are responsive when they see critical mass in an area. Sarah Brody runs the North American water practice of McKinsey & Company, which she has restarted in response to considerable client demand from mega-cap corporates to private equity firms. The mainstreaming of water advice for major clients is a very interesting leading indicator of the increasing attention being paid to the fundamental molecule. Sarah is a proper intrapreneur and has done exceptional work building the business on behalf of her clients. She really elucidates the role that firms like McKinsey play in this sector, and she has an excellent water origin story. Please enjoy my conversation with Sarah Brody. Tune into our 25th episode of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Sarah Brody, Partner at McKinsey & Company. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/e84JmQwW

What a stellar group of women doing a lot of good for the future of climate tech. Thanks so much to the team at Startup Basecamp for including our very own Christine E. Boyle and Anthea Sargeaunt. 🌎👏

The idea of an Overton Window, when the conditions around a political issue change that in turn changes the nature of what is politically possible, is a useful one in assessing businesses. Sometimes conditions change enough in a market or sector that there is suddenly a significant window of opportunity for a founder to run through. We think that is the case with Michael Rigney, CEO of Cala Systems. They're building a next-generation heat pump water heater, and if they're right, they could save billions of gallons of water, reduce US national emissions by 3%, and save domestic energy consumers about $23 billion a year. We talk about the nature of the water heater market, competing against entrenched incumbents, and rebuilding a well-known consumer product from the ground up. He has major game in this segment and Cala are in a fascinating position. Please enjoy my conversation with Michael Rigney. Tune into our 24th episode of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Michael Rigney, Founder and CEO at Cala Systems. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/eSJKKC6Y

Cala Systems has the potential to save billions of gallons of water, reduce US national emissions by 3%, and save domestic energy consumers about $23 billion a year. They do the core job of delivering hot water at low cost better than any other water heater. Moreover, they empower homeowners to integrate water heating into their homes and personal priorities as never before. The unit they have built saves 15-45% of energy against existing HPWHs, and is a blend of hardware, software and control innovation that is nothing less than beautiful. We're psyched to host Cala Systems CEO and Founder, Michael Rigney, at our next BIV session this Thursday, October 10th from 1-2pm. Register here: https://lu.ma/zjjg6fy0

"Water is a relationship-driven business. Building a network is crucial for success." We had a ball at #WEFTEC this week. Tune into Episode 23 of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Ifetayo Venner, Immediate Past President at the Water Environment Federation and Senior Vice President at Arcadis. Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/e-4mTkMs

As a water specialist investor, we see a LOT of membrane companies. And that’s not surprising because membranes are fundamental tools for purification and separations, and advances in materials science, surface chemistry, transport theory, and fluid dynamics open the door for new and better ways of doing things. Aqua Membranes, Inc. offer a completely new paradigm for achieving the necessary functions of the RO membrane spacing element but in a nearly ideal way. We (and others) think what they have is the first step-change in RO membrane design in decades. The Aqua Membranes innovation is a clever, well-patented innovation that is quickly gaining market adoption and is winning industry awards. We frankly don’t see why their tech won’t become an industry standard. We love this company. We’re thrilled to have led their Series B growth investment round, alongside Helios Climate Ventures and the top quality existing and other new investors, and to have them as the first investment from our Opportunity Fund I. Craig Beckman, Christopher Kurth, Syed Shah, CFA and the entire Aqua Membranes, Inc. team & board: thanks for letting us join the ride!

Cala Systems does the core job of delivering hot water at low cost better than any other water heater. Moreover, it empowers homeowners to integrate water heating into their homes and personal priorities as never before, through capabilities like minimizing their greenhouse gas emissions via coordination with times of clean electricity on the grid, preheating water before potential power disruptions, synchronizing water heating with the output of the home's solar system, and more. The unit they have built saves 15-45% of energy against existing HPWHs, and is a blend of hardware, software and control innovation that is nothing less than beautiful. We're thrilled to host Cala Systems CEO and Founder, Michael Rigney, for our next BIV session. Join us next Thursday, October 10th from 1-2pm. Register here: https://lu.ma/zjjg6fy0

TeamSolve is tackling the mass retirement of critical, experienced professionals in key industries using a Generative AI operations and maintenance (O&M) assistant. Operators of any level of experience can literally ask their phones questions, and receive real-time insight, coaching, instructions, manuals, warnings and more, yielding 40% time savings already. We first met the team through our friends at Imagine H2O Asia (though they had been colleagues of Christine E. Boyle for a long time), where TeamSolve made a very strong impression. We’re excited to support them alongside SGInnovate on the next stage of their mission. Here’s why we did it.

It's nice to have friends in high places, and in water, there are few places higher than the presidency of the Water Environment Federation, the core trade body for the wastewater industry. Ifetayo Venner and I got to know each other in 2017 when we both spoke at the opening session of #WEFTEC, WEF’s annual gathering for the wastewater world (happening next week!), and we spoke in a cavernous room filled with about 5000 pros talking through our stories of how we got into water. Ifetayo’s was a lot better than mine, and no surprise. She is an enormously accomplished professional, Past President of Water Environment Federation and a Senior VP at Arcadis, the massive engineering consultancy. She has led the creation of some very serious projects in wastewater, and I wanted to have her on The Fundamental Molecule to help us understand the role of engineering consultancies in the sector, what the world looks like from her point of view, the opportunities in infrastructure renewal, and of course, her own path through all of it. She really is great. Please enjoy my conversation with Ifetayo Venner. Tune into our 23rd episode of The Fundamental Molecule featuring Ifetayo Venner, Immediate Past President at the Water Environment Federation and Senior Vice President at Arcadis. And if you'll be at #WEFTEC, say hello to the team. 👋 Episode link here: https://lnkd.in/e-4mTkMs