Echo River Capital Update - December 2024

The Voluntary Carbon Market is taking off, and CREW Carbon is leading the way to decarbonize wastewater. "CREW Carbon is excited to announce the next major step in our commercial development:??Frontier buyers?and CREW Carbon have signed a 6-year, $32mm carbon removal offtake agreement. This offtake with Frontier buyers enables CREW to accelerate the integration of carbon removal into existing wastewater infrastructure at a significantly faster pace and scale. This agreement not only allows us to expand our existing CO? removal projects but also benefits the wastewater sector by enabling safer and efficient wastewater treatment.

Most importantly, the agreement is a signal to the market that CREW's technology has been vetted and approved by one of the most respected teams of?technical and commercial experts in the CO2 removal space. Frontier’s support validates our mission to deliver measurable, permanent, and scientifically robust carbon removal today -- not decades. This opportunity enables CREW to develop CDR in closed-system wastewater plants while informing how to leverage alkalinity-based CDR in open-systems across Earth’s water cycle."

Check out the press release to learn more.

Portfolio Updates

Verdi Ag was honored as a new member of Elemental Impact! ?16 companies were selected from among 700 applicants. Verdi is making modern automation tools accessible to every farm on the planet, using intelligent devices to retrofit and automate aging farm infrastructure such as irrigation systems. As part of this cohort, Elemental will be joining Verdi’s current funding round.

Watergenics (based in Berlin) has secured a new round of $1.5m at an increased $12m valuation. Watergenics is fundraising and the round is open to new investors here.

Aclarity's CEO, Julie Bliss Mullen, has been named one of PitchBook's "102 Female Founders and Investors to Know in 2024"! This honor underscores Julie's innovation and leadership in tackling PFAS contamination with groundbreaking destruction technology.

Water Industry Highlights

Google announces more accurate 15-day weather forecasts in just minutes using generative AI and DeepMind called GenCast. DeepMind’s team goes into the details of this open source tool in this blog. Better predictions might enable more practive steps to protect life and property from storm and hurricane damages, and improve renewable energy planning.

Hundreds of corporations have now defined and set water replenishment goals, including Coca-Cola. Coke announced it has achieved 100% of its water replenishment goals since 2015. Some Echo River Companies are assisting corporations to design and implement water replenishment projects including Swan Systems for Microsoft, and Waterplan for myriad corporate customers.

The Klamath Dams are down, and already the salmon are returning just months later.

Water-related Indigenous Progress

On December 7 in Riyadh, the United Nations released the Sacred Lands Indigenous People’s Declaration, as part of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD). The Declaration maintains that the crisis continues and brought about by over-consumption and disregard for nature.

The Declaration included these four crucial elements for indigenous peoples across the globe.

RESPECT, RECOGNIZE, PROMOTE AND PROTECT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS IN THE UNCCD POLICIES AND ACTIONS

ENSURE FULL AND EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INCLUDING WOMEN AND YOUTH, IN LAND-RELATED PROCESSES AND PROGRAMS AT THE LOCAL, NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS

RECOGNIZE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO LAND RESTORATION, STEWARDSHIP, AND TRADITIONAL LIVELIHOODS

ENSURE DIRECT ACCESS TO FINANCES FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES FROM ALL SEVEN SOCIO-CULTURAL REGIONS

The Declaration encourages the creation of a dedicated fund for Indigenous Peoples’ initiatives on land restoration, conservation, and desertification and drought resilience. Venture funding for water-tech is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. The UNCCD rightly identifies that the majority of funding ($ billions to $ trillions) to combat desertification and drought will need to come from governments and commercial finance to support national and global efforts on land degradation, desertification and drought. 200 countries committed to “prioritize land restoration and drought resilience in national policies and international cooperation as an essential strategy for food security and climate adaptation.” ?Echo River supports these actions and we believe our portfolio companies will enable and empower countries with the data and tools necessary for planning and implementation of these efforts.

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Thank You

Your support drives our mission forward to live in freshwater harmony with nature, made easier through technology. Happy holidays!