Radar · Waste & Water Management in California
Best Waste & Water Management Companies in California, United States
The 380 best Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Fulcrum Bioenergy.
By Riya SenguptaFinancials
380companies tracked
$1.2Bdisclosed funding
0unicorns
80have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · WASTE & WATER MANAGEMENT × CALIFORNIA
Our analysis of 50 Waste & Water Management companies
$2.9b in tracked funding; 89% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
50companies analysed
89%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
2016median founding year
49median Fliar Index™
98kcombined LinkedIn audience
53%of audience held by top 3
4companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Waste & Water Management companies in California
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Web popularity | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fulcrum Bioenergy Provider of ethanol production solution from municipal solid waste 72Growth top 18%Funding top 19%Product top 23%Innovation top 31% All 11 signals ▾Growthtop 18% Fundingtop 19% Producttop 23% Innovationtop 31% Patentstop 33% Markettop 37% Moattop 40% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 42% Newsbottom 27% Techbottom 22% Growth: Headcount 85 → 129 (+52%) across vintages Funding: Raised $348M across 16 rounds · 16 rounds over 19 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 72/100 | $348M | 40 mo ago | 129 | Eric Pryor CEO | — | — | 88 patents Waste-to-fuel feedstock processing and Fischer‑Tropsch synthesis technologies | — |
| 2 | MBA Polymers Provider of recycle plastic services | $153M | 148 mo ago | 44 | — | — | Top 10M | 85 patents Advanced recycling and purification technologies for durable‑goods and electronic plastics | — |
| 3 | Sylmar Group Provider of industrial water treatment services 29Funding top 19%Talent top 38%News bottom 47%Global bottom 36% All 5 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% Talenttop 38% Newsbottom 47% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 18% Funding: Raised $130M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 29/100 | $130M | 3 mo ago | 6 | Michael Warady Co-Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Waterhealth Provides portable water for public use | $93M | 97 mo ago | 75 | — | — | — | 2 patents Portable UV-powered sterile water treatment devices for safe drinking water | — |
| 5 | Claros 72Funding top 24%Tech top 35%Talent top 38%Global bottom 33% All 4 signals ▾Fundingtop 24% Techtop 35% Talenttop 38% Globalbottom 33% Funding: Raised $39.8M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) Tech: 34 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 72/100 | $40M | 3 mo ago | — | Daniel Kultran Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+31 | Top 10M | — | 1 partnership · 1 expansion |
| 6 | Sierra Energy Provider of waste-to-energy solution | $33M | 82 mo ago | 57 | Mike Hart Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+25 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 7 | OriginClear Provider of wastewater treatment services | $32M | 43 mo ago | 35 | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+24 | Top 10M | 11 patents Advanced water treatment technologies including algae biomass purification and organic contaminant removal | — |
| 8 | Underground Solutions Provider of infrastructure technologies for water, sewer and conduit applications | $30M | 143 mo ago | 98 | Andy Seidel CEO | — | — | 85 patents Underground pipe fusion, manufacturing, and repair technologies for utility conduits | 1 expansion |
| 9 | RealEnergy Waste-to-biogas generation units for commercial buildings | $28M | 288 mo ago | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Cadiz Provider of waste-water treatment services | $27M | 75 mo ago | 21 21 → 15 (-29%) | Susan K Chairman & Chief Executive Officer | WordPressMySQLPHP+25 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 11 | Deep Isolation Provider of nuclear waste storage and disposal services 67Innovation top 20%Patents top 20%Funding top 24%Growth top 28% All 9 signals ▾Innovationtop 20% Patentstop 20% Fundingtop 24% Growthtop 28% Moattop 41% Techtop 48% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 37% Marketbottom 28% Innovation: 187 patents (top 11% of patent-holders) · 106 filings since 2022 vs 81 in 2017-21 Patents: 187 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 106 filings since 2022 vs 81 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $26M | 10 mo ago | 19 | Elizabeth Muller CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+27 | Top 10M | 187 patents Deep borehole hazardous waste isolation, containment canisters, and long‑term monitoring systems | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 12 | APTwater Provider of water treatment and testing services | $24M | 156 mo ago | 64 | — | — | — | 22 patents Advanced membrane biofilm reactors and pulsating flow manifolds for wastewater treatment | — |
| 13 | Trevi Systems Provider of desalination services | $22M | 34 mo ago | 19 19 → 25 (+32%) | — | WixSentryBootstrap+11 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 14 | Arensis Provider of waste to energy solutions | $17M | 93 mo ago | — | Julien Uhlig Founder & CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Natural Ocean Well Provider of water management services 55Innovation top 20%Growth top 28%Patents top 28%Funding top 39% All 7 signals ▾Innovationtop 20% Growthtop 28% Patentstop 28% Fundingtop 39% Globalbottom 46% Techbottom 43% Marketbottom 15% Innovation: 56 patents (top 28% of patent-holders) · 47 filings since 2022 vs 9 in 2017-21 Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 55/100 | $16M | 18 mo ago | 8 | — | WebflowApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+10 | Top 10M | 56 patents Underwater desalination and brine management integrated with green hydrogen production | — |
| 16 | Mote Provider of wood waste recycling services 37Funding top 31%Patents top 31%Innovation top 35%Moat bottom 49% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 31% Patentstop 31% Innovationtop 35% Moatbottom 49% Globalbottom 40% Marketbottom 20% Funding: Raised $14.4M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 3 yrs (0.7/yr) Patents: 19 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 17 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $14M | 16 mo ago | 10 | — | — | — | 19 patents Biomass gasification feedstock processing and low‑grade heat integration for syngas production | — |
| 17 | Hyfe Provider of bio wastewater services | $13M | 35 mo ago | 4 | Michelle Ruiz Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | 5 patents Wearable sensor-based automatic cough detection for digital health monitoring | 1 job opening |
| 18 | BioLargo Provider of wastewater treatment services 37Funding top 20%News top 32%Patents top 48%Talent bottom 49% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 20% Newstop 32% Patentstop 48% Talentbottom 49% Innovationbottom 47% Techbottom 47% Growthbottom 41% Fin. healthbottom 37% Marketbottom 36% Moatbottom 36% Partnersbottom 35% Globalbottom 33% Funding: Raised $11.8M across 22 rounds · 22 rounds over 18 yrs (1.2/yr) News: 8 BI events in 12 mo (of 24 tracked, 5 types) · +33% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $12M | 8 mo ago | 23 23 → 23 (+0%) | Dennis Calvert President & CEO | WixSentryBootstrap+11 | Top 50M | 5 patents PFAS contamination remediation technologies for water and environmental treatment | — |
| 19 | reRubber Provider of tyre recycling services | $10M | 160 mo ago | — | JD Wang Founder & CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | rePlanet Venture studio creating scalable food startups by connecting ideas with founders | $10M | 141 mo ago | — | Alexander Millar CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Soma Provider of drinking water services | $10M | 116 mo ago | 15 | — | Shogun Page BuilderCart FunctionalityShopify+28 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 22 | ERI Provider of E-waste recycling and asset disposition services 76News top 27%Innovation top 30%Partners top 31%Tech top 37% All 10 signals ▾Newstop 27% Innovationtop 30% Partnerstop 31% Techtop 37% Talenttop 38% Fundingtop 39% Markettop 40% Growthtop 40% Productbottom 48% Globalbottom 32% News: 4 BI events in 12 mo (of 32 tracked, 7 types) · Top themes: Contracts, Announcements Innovation: 3 product lines rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $10M | 12 mo ago | 452 452 → 357 (-21%) | Aaron Blum Co Founder/Chief Compliance Officer/Chief Operating Officer | WordPressApple iCloud MailMySQL+30 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 23 | BlueOak Resources Provider of ewaste recycling services | $9M | 144 mo ago | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Nexus eWater Provider of grey water recycle technology solutions | $9M | 115 mo ago | — | Craig Richmond Co-Founder and Executive Vice President | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Hydro Novation Provider of water filtration & purification systems | $8M | 152 mo ago | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | DeepWater Desal Provider of water management services | $8M | 118 mo ago | 12 | — | — | — | 40 patents Integrated thermal management for data centers with seawater desalination and aquaculture. | — |
| 27 | Green EnviroTech Provider of scrap tires recycling services | $8M | 108 mo ago | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 28 | ECO2 Plastics Provider of plastics recycling services | $6M | 202 mo ago | — | Rod Rougelot CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Porifera Provider of advanced membrane technology for water treatment and product concentration | $6M | 28 mo ago | 24 | — | — | — | 154 patents Advanced membrane filtration and concentration technologies for ultra‑high‑gravity alcoholic beverages. | — |
| 30 | Microvi Biocatalytic technology solutions for water treatment and purification | $6M | 23 mo ago | 17 | — | Squarespace CommerceSquarespaceStimulus+10 | Top 50M | — | 1 launch |
| 31 | Yosemite Clean Provider of waste biomass services | $6M | 35 mo ago | 16 | Thomas Hobby CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | CalBio Developer of bio-gas dig-ester projects and waste treatment services | $6M | 93 mo ago | 41 | Ross Buckenham Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+16 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 33 | Clean Filtration Technology Provider of filtration system for drinking, waste and process water applications | $6M | 185 mo ago | — | John Mallard CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 34 | Biorem Air emissions abatement solutions provider with proven performance and global reach | $6M | 126 mo ago | 48 | Eng Webb President & Chief Executive Officer | WordPressMySQLPHP+18 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 35 | Cloud Water Filters Provider of water filter services 29Growth top 35%Tech top 43%Funding top 49%Talent bottom 45% All 6 signals ▾Growthtop 35% Techtop 43% Fundingtop 49% Talentbottom 45% Globalbottom 25% Marketbottom 14% Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo Tech: 25 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon Web Services rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 29/100 | $5M | 16 mo ago | 6 | Nick Braun Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalitySentryNode.js+21 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 36 | Dyrt Provider of food waste management services 9Funding top 42%Talent bottom 45%Tech bottom 35%Global bottom 33% All 5 signals ▾Fundingtop 42% Talentbottom 45% Techbottom 35% Globalbottom 33% Marketbottom 11% Funding: Raised $4.7M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 3 yrs (0.7/yr) Talent: 1 named leader on record rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 9/100 | $5M | 18 mo ago | 5 | Lee Robinson Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+11 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 37 | SSI Provider of industrial & municipal wastewater treatment services | $4M | 227 mo ago | 3 | Laura Demmons Chairman and CEO | — | — | 51 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 38 | T2M Global Provider of services to convert waste to energy 53Patents top 36%Innovation top 37%Funding bottom 48%Tech bottom 44% All 6 signals ▾Patentstop 36% Innovationtop 37% Fundingbottom 48% Techbottom 44% Productbottom 44% Globalbottom 37% Patents: 23 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 23 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 Innovation: 23 patents (top 48% of patent-holders) · 23 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $4M | 13 mo ago | — | — | — | — | 23 patents Cloud-based video game streaming platforms and interactive gaming system architectures. | — |
| 39 | California Water Service Provider of water management services | $4M | 46 mo ago | 1 | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressApple iCloud Mail+36 | Top 500k | — | 1 expansion · 1 award |
| 40 | Global Water Farms Developer of salt-water distillation system | $4M | 74 mo ago | 5 | Colton Becker Co-Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 41 | PAX Water Technologies Provider of waste water treatment services | $4M | 163 mo ago | — | David Haines CEO | — | — | 28 patents Advanced water treatment: disinfectant monitoring, VOC removal, and sensor/ventilation technologies. | — |
| 42 | BANQloop Provider of waste management services | $3M | 47 mo ago | 11 | James Boskovic Founder & CEO | — | — | 2 patents Modular waste container systems for efficient collection and transport | — |
| 43 | KOR Water Manufacturer of water purifiers | $3M | 47 mo ago | 6 | — | Cart FunctionalityShopifyVideoJS+32 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 44 | Active Membranes Developer of electro-active membrane technology for desalination and water treatment 27Talent top 38%Moat top 48%Funding bottom 46%Market bottom 40% All 5 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Moattop 48% Fundingbottom 46% Marketbottom 40% Globalbottom 36% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 4/10 · 9 curated direct competitors tracked rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 27/100 | $2M | 12 mo ago | — | Eric Hoek Co-Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 45 | Carollo Engineers Provider of wastewater management services 62Innovation top 33%Patents top 38%Market top 39%Moat top 45% All 10 signals ▾Innovationtop 33% Patentstop 38% Markettop 39% Moattop 45% Growthtop 47% Techtop 48% Fundingtop 49% Newsbottom 45% Talentbottom 40% Globalbottom 38% Innovation: 45 patents (top 33% of patent-holders) Patents: 45 patents matched (strict assignee match) · Latest publication 2016 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 62/100 | $2M | 8 mo ago | 1,209 1,209 → 1,808 (+50%) | B Narayanan President and CEO | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+21 | Top 5M | 45 patents Advanced wastewater treatment and gas scrubbing technologies, including microbial fuel cells. | 2 job openings · 1 award |
| 46 | Hauler Hero Provider of waste recycling services 50Growth top 28%Tech top 31%Funding top 41%Product top 47% All 8 signals ▾Growthtop 28% Techtop 31% Fundingtop 41% Producttop 47% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 32% Customersbottom 5% Growth: Web rank 5,000,000 → 1,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo Tech: 33 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Google Cloud rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 50/100 | $1M | 6 mo ago | 15 | Mark Hoadley CEO | Firebasestyled-componentsJSS+16 | Top 1M | — | — |
| 47 | OndaVia Provider of chemical testing services 27Innovation top 39%Patents top 41%Funding top 43%Product top 43% All 9 signals ▾Innovationtop 39% Patentstop 41% Fundingtop 43% Producttop 43% Moattop 45% Talentbottom 45% Techbottom 43% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 16% Innovation: 53 patents (top 30% of patent-holders) · 15 filings since 2022 vs 27 in 2017-21 Patents: 53 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 15 filings since 2022 vs 27 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 27/100 | $1M | 11 mo ago | 8 | Mark Peterman CEO | — | — | 53 patents SERS-based chemical sensing for aldehydes, analytes, and water quality monitoring | 7 launchs |
| 48 | North Star CSD Provider of water, sewer, solid waste, road, and fire services | $1M | 13 mo ago | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 49 | SEWD | $358K | 14 mo ago | 42 | — | RubyTypeScriptGraphQL+20 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 50 | Greenbutts Provider of plastic recycling services 42Patents top 34%Growth top 35%Innovation top 39%Funding top 45% All 9 signals ▾Patentstop 34% Growthtop 35% Innovationtop 39% Fundingtop 45% Moattop 45% Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 46% Globalbottom 40% Marketbottom 19% Patents: 22 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 10 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21 Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 42/100 | $304K | 5 mo ago | 8 | Tadas Lisauskas Co-Founder | WixSentryBootstrap+9 | Top 50M | 22 patents Manufacturing and processing of cigarette filter rods and fiber cell expansion | — |
Top 12 Waste & Water Management companies in California
#1
Funding Raised · Los Angeles, California · founded 2019 · 6 employees$130Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Los Angeles, California · founded 2019 · 6 employees
Provider of industrial water treatment services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 29how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 19%Talent
top 38%News
bottom 47%Global
bottom 36%Market
bottom 18%Funding: Raised $130M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (Feb 2026)
Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
News: 2 BI events in 12 mo (of 3 tracked, 2 types) · +100% YoY · Top themes: Funding
Audience (LinkedIn): 917 LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Feb 2026Conventional Debt$130M
Founders & team
Investors
Comvest Partners, Steyn Group, M2O, Balance Point Capital
#2
Seed · Torrance, California · founded 2024$39.8Mraised▾
Seed · Torrance, California · founded 2024
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 72how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 24%Tech
top 35%Talent
top 38%Global
bottom 33%Funding: Raised $39.8M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) · Last round Seed (Mar 2026)
Tech: 34 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare · Security: Cloudflare Bot Management, Http/3
Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Audience (LinkedIn): 2k LinkedIn followers
Hiring (LinkedIn): 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: electrical engineer, technical program manager
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships · 1 expansions (incl. Samsung Electronics) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Mar 2026Seed$30M
- Feb 2025Seed$9.8M
Founders & team
Investors
Red Cell Partners, General Catalyst, VIPC, Systemiq Capital, Aero X Ventures, Trenches Capital
Tech stack
CdnjsChart.JsCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsD3
#3
Series B · Berkeley, California · founded 2016 · 19 employees$26.1Mraised▾
Series B · Berkeley, California · founded 2016 · 19 employees
Provider of nuclear waste storage and disposal services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 67how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 20%Patents
top 20%Funding
top 24%Growth
top 28%Moat
top 41%Tech
top 48%Innovation: 187 patents (top 11% of patent-holders) · 106 filings since 2022 vs 81 in 2017-21
Patents: 187 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 106 filings since 2022 vs 81 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Funding: Raised $26.1M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 6 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Series B (Jul 2025)
Audience (LinkedIn): 3k LinkedIn followers — 3.1% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships · 1 awards (incl. SHINE Technologies) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jul 2025Series B$33M
- Jul 2024Grant (prize money)$199.9K
- Sep 2023Grant (prize money)$441.7K
- Nov 2022Grant (prize money)—
Founders & team
Investors
DOE, ARPA-E, NAC International, OSTI, Sera Capital, Berkeley SkyDeck
Tech stack
AddtoanyAdrollAdroll Cmp SystemAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesCloudflare
#4
Public · Santa Ana, California · founded 1989 · 23 employees$11.8Mraised▾
Public · Santa Ana, California · founded 1989 · 23 employees
Provider of wastewater treatment services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 37how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 20%News
top 32%Patents
top 48%Talent
bottom 49%Innovation
bottom 47%Tech
bottom 47%Funding: Raised $11.8M across 22 rounds · 22 rounds over 18 yrs (1.2/yr) · Last round Post IPO (Sep 2025)
News: 8 BI events in 12 mo (of 24 tracked, 5 types) · +33% YoY · 1 high-value events (IPO/M&A/funding/contracts) in 12 mo
Patents: 5 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 5 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2024
Audience (LinkedIn): 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Post IPO$887K
- Nov 2023Post IPO$815K
- May 2019Post IPO$200K
- Jan 2019Post IPO$70K
Founders & team
Investors
TRITON FUNDS
Tech stack
BootstrapGodaddyGoogle CloudGoogle Cloud CdnGsapHsts
#5
Funding Raised · Fresno, California · founded 2003 · 452 employees$9.6Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Fresno, California · founded 2003 · 452 employees
Provider of E-waste recycling and asset disposition services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 76how this company ranks against its industry peers
News
top 27%Innovation
top 30%Partners
top 31%Tech
top 37%Talent
top 38%Funding
top 39%News: 4 BI events in 12 mo (of 32 tracked, 7 types) · Top themes: Contracts, Announcements
Innovation: 3 product lines
Partners: 3 contract events in 12 mo · Named contractor/client in 3 deals
Audience (LinkedIn): 8k LinkedIn followers — 8.0% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- May 2025Grant (prize money)$4.5M
- Mar 2025Grant (prize money)$4.5M
- Aug 2018Conventional Debt—
- Jan 2015Grant (prize money)$513.1K
Founders & team
Investors
Europa, Comerica, OSTI, Centrecourt Asset Management
Tech stack
AdrollAdroll Cmp SystemAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesApple Icloud MailAzure
#6
Funding Raised · Walnut Creek, California · founded 1994 · 1209 employees$2.3Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Walnut Creek, California · founded 1994 · 1209 employees
Provider of wastewater management services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 62how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 33%Patents
top 38%Market
top 39%Moat
top 45%Growth
top 47%Tech
top 48%Innovation: 45 patents (top 33% of patent-holders)
Patents: 45 patents matched (strict assignee match) · Latest publication 2016 · 3 distinct CPC technology classes
Market: 1,209 employees (top 6% of Waste & Water Management) · Top-5,000,000 web property
Audience (LinkedIn): 34k LinkedIn followers — 35.2% of this cohort's audience
Hiring (LinkedIn): 2 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +2 · hiring: Mid Level Civil Infrastructure Engineer, Strategic Marketing Specialist
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 awards announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Oct 2025Grant (prize money)$2.3M
Founders & team
Investors
OSTI, Waterstart
Tech stack
Adobe Audience ManagerApple Icloud MailAzureCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCloudflare Browser Insights
#7
Series A · San Diego, California · founded 2020 · 15 employees$1.1Mraised▾
Series A · San Diego, California · founded 2020 · 15 employees
Provider of waste recycling services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 50how this company ranks against its industry peers
Growth
top 28%Tech
top 31%Funding
top 41%Product
top 47%Talent
bottom 49%Global
bottom 36%Growth: Web rank 5,000,000 → 1,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Tech: 33 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Google Cloud · Devops: Nginx
Funding: Raised $1.1M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) · Last round Series A (Nov 2025)
Audience (LinkedIn): 4k LinkedIn followers — 4.3% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Nov 2025Series A$16M
- Dec 2024Seed$10M
- Seed$1.1M
Founders & team
Investors
I2BF Global Ventures, K5 Global, Somersault Ventures, Recall Capital, Frontier Growth
Tech stack
CloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsEmotionFirebaseGoogle Analytics
#8
Series A · Los Angeles, California · founded 2017 · 10 employees$14.4Mraised▾
Series A · Los Angeles, California · founded 2017 · 10 employees
Provider of wood waste recycling services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 37how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 31%Patents
top 31%Innovation
top 35%Moat
bottom 49%Global
bottom 40%Market
bottom 20%Funding: Raised $14.4M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 3 yrs (0.7/yr) · Last round Series A (Feb 2025)
Patents: 19 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 17 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Innovation: 19 patents (top 52% of patent-holders) · 17 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21
Audience (LinkedIn): 3k LinkedIn followers — 2.6% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Feb 2025Series A$13.1M
- Aug 2023Grant (prize money)$1.2M
Investors
United States Department of Agriculture, CAL FIRE, State of California, Counteract, Preston Werner Ventures, Nellanext
#9
Series A · Los Angeles, California · founded 2019 · 8 employees$16.5Mraised▾
Series A · Los Angeles, California · founded 2019 · 8 employees
Provider of water management services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 55how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 20%Growth
top 28%Patents
top 28%Funding
top 39%Global
bottom 46%Tech
bottom 43%Innovation: 56 patents (top 28% of patent-holders) · 47 filings since 2022 vs 9 in 2017-21
Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Patents: 56 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 47 filings since 2022 vs 9 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Audience (LinkedIn): 3k LinkedIn followers — 3.2% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships · 1 awards (incl. Eau d'Azur) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Nov 2024Series A$11M
- Dec 2022Seed$3.5M
- Jan 2021Seed$2M
Investors
Kubota
Tech stack
Apple Icloud MailCloudflareGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerHstsHttp/3
#10
Funding Raised · Los Angeles, California · founded 2017$4.3Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Los Angeles, California · founded 2017
Provider of services to convert waste to energy
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 53how this company ranks against its industry peers
Patents
top 36%Innovation
top 37%Funding
bottom 48%Tech
bottom 44%Product
bottom 44%Global
bottom 37%Patents: 23 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 23 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2025
Innovation: 23 patents (top 48% of patent-holders) · 23 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 · 2 product lines
Funding: Raised $4.3M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 7 yrs (0.4/yr) · Last round Grant (prize money) (May 2025)
Funding rounds
- May 2025Grant (prize money)$1.6M
- Jun 2021Grant (prize money)$2.5M
- Aug 2019Grant (prize money)$150K
Investors
CalSEED, OSTI
Tech stack
WixReactGoogle CloudPolyfillLodashPriority Hints
#11
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2010 · 8 employees$303.9Kraised▾
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2010 · 8 employees
Provider of plastic recycling services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 42how this company ranks against its industry peers
Patents
top 34%Growth
top 35%Innovation
top 39%Funding
top 45%Moat
top 45%Talent
bottom 49%Patents: 22 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 10 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Innovation: 22 patents (top 49% of patent-holders) · 10 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21
Audience (LinkedIn): 642 LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Jan 2026Seed$172.6K
- Sep 2025Seed$197.8K
- Mar 2025Seed$512.5K
- Jan 2025Seed$246.9K
Founders & team
Investors
Shiva Capital
Tech stack
BootstrapGoogle CloudGoogle Cloud CdnGsapHstsHttp/3
#12
Series F · Pleasanton, California · founded 2007 · 129 employees$347.9Mraised▾
Series F · Pleasanton, California · founded 2007 · 129 employees
Provider of ethanol production solution from municipal solid waste
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 72how this company ranks against its industry peers
Growth
top 18%Funding
top 19%Product
top 23%Innovation
top 31%Patents
top 33%Market
top 37%Growth: Headcount 85 → 129 (+52%) across vintages
Funding: Raised $348M across 16 rounds · 16 rounds over 19 yrs (0.8/yr) · Last round Grant (prize money) (Feb 2023)
Product: 3 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series F
Funding rounds
- Feb 2023Grant (prize money)$20.2M
- Jul 2022Series F$20M
- Jul 2020Series E$5M
- Jul 2019Series E$19M
Founders & team
Investors
Gov, SK Innovation, United Airlines, Rustic Canyon Partners, Waste Management, US Renewables Group
Tech stack
Craft CmsPhpYiiVimeoSeomaticApache Http Server
Funding & investor landscape
$1.2Btotal disclosed funding
76companies funded
269disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Y Combinator3 rounds
Notable founders
Michael Warady
Co-Founder · Sylmar Group
Peter Brooks
Co-Founder & CEO · Sylmar Group
Daniel Kultran
Co-Founder & CEO · Claros
Grant Verstandig
Co-Founder & Executive Chairman · Claros
Elizabeth Muller
CEO · Deep Isolation
Dennis Calvert
President & CEO · BioLargo
Aaron Blum
Co Founder/Chief Compliance Officer/Chief Operating Officer · ERI
Tammy Shegerian
President & CEO · ERI
B Narayanan
President and CEO · Carollo Engineers
Mark Hoadley
CEO · Hauler Hero
Tadas Lisauskas
Co-Founder · Greenbutts
Eric Pryor
CEO · Fulcrum Bioenergy
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 4,932,742 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Waste & Water Management coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA · Environment
How research on Water Treatment in California is moving
A read on the academic research around Water Treatment in California — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 211 papers.
UC Berkeley, Davis, and UCLA lead California's water-treatment research—spanning disinfection, membranes, and oxidation—with a cautiously optimistic tone (mean stance 0.38) and growing recent output.
211 papers · stance +0.38 · 22% breakthrough · 29% concern
top institutions
- University of California, Berkeley51
- University of California, Davis29
- University of California, Los Angeles24
- University of California, Riverside21
- California Polytechnic State University11
leading researchers
David L. Sedlak · Kara L. Nelson · David Jassby · Haizhou Liu · Stephen P. Mezyk · Tamara E. C. Kraus
prism intelligence · tone & topics
87% positive · 9% critical tone
EnvironmentHealthAgricultureSustainabilityBusinessMaterials Science
▲
Breakthroughs43 · 20%
▲ 14%→25% share
▲1.8× share momentum12 median citations56% since 2021mostly methods-led
Membrane research is surging — papers quintupled (1→5) as desalination and nitrate removal emerge as brand-new breakthrough sub-topics.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Membrane1→5
- Reverse osmosis1→3
- Portable water purification2→3
- Adsorption3→4
Newly emergingNitrate 0→3 · Desalination 0→3 · Wastewater 0→3
Landmark Rapid, Selective Heavy Metal Removal from Water by a Metal–Organic Framework/Polydopamine Composite · 428 cites
◆
Advancements95 · 45%
▲ 38%→43% share
▲1.1× share momentum4 median citations43% since 2021mostly empirical
Wastewater advancement research is intensifying — papers quadrupled (2→8) alongside newly emerging sewage treatment and aquaculture sub-topics.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Wastewater2→8
- Reverse osmosis1→6
- Reuse2→6
- Filtration (mathematics)1→5
- Effluent1→5
Newly emergingSewage treatment 0→4 · Aquaculture 0→3 · Nitrate 0→3
Landmark Metal–Organic Frameworks for Water Harvesting from Air, Anywhere, Anytime · 452 cites
▼
Concerns56 · 27%
▼ 38%→24% share
▼0.6× share momentum14 median citations41% since 2021mostly empirical
Waterborne disease concern is rising sharply — papers quadrupled (1→4) with diarrheal disease and water disinfection newly emerging despite shrinking overall concern share (38%→24%).
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Water quality6→10
- Waterborne diseases1→4
- Effluent1→4
- Wastewater1→4
- Sanitation1→4
Newly emergingDiarrheal disease 0→4 · Water disinfection 0→4
Landmark Challenges and Opportunities for Electrochemical Processes as Next-Generation Technologies for the Treatment of Contamin · 1,075 cites
Common questions
How many Waste & Water Management companies are there in California, United States?
Radar tracks 380 indexable Waste & Water Management companies headquartered in California, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States?
The Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States on this list have raised a combined $1.2B in disclosed equity funding across 76 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Waste & Water Management company in California, United States?
Fulcrum Bioenergy is the highest-funded Waste & Water Management company in California, United States, with $347.9M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States are funded?
76 of the 380 Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Waste & Water Management unicorns are there in California, United States?
None of the Waste & Water Management companies in California, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in California, United States Waste & Water Management companies?
The most active investors in California, United States Waste & Water Management companies on this list include OSTI, United States Department of Agriculture, Dow Chemical Company, HHS, Imagine H2O.
Riya SenguptaFinancials
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.