Two Challenges - One Opportunity
Clean Water & the Funding Gap
Water: a new asset class for one of the most important issues of our time
Private capital is lacking - despite massive global challenges
​​Water is one of the most fundamental foundations of life - and one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century.
Climate change, population growth, urbanization, and dilapidated infrastructure are exacerbating the water crisis worldwide. Nevertheless, the water sector remains one of the most underfunded future industries - particularly from the perspective of private capital providers.
While public funds and international development banks have borne the majority of water infrastructure investments for decades, private capital has so far remained almost entirely on the sidelines. Less than 2% of global investments in the water sector come from private sources, while over 90% are provided by public institutions. The World Bank estimates the outstanding financing required to achieve the water-related SDGs by 2030 to be up to USD 7 trillion.
This immense “funding gap” was a central topic of a panel discussion at World Water Week 2024 in Stockholm, organized by the World Bank under the title “Unlocking the Financing Ecosystem for Water.” One key insight: without targeted mobilization of private capital, the global water goals will not be achievable - neither environmentally nor socially.
Since its founding in 2009, Grasshopper Investments has set out to address precisely this issue. The company develops investment models that channel private capital to where the impact is particularly great - into improving the drinking water supply through scalable solutions with clear impact and manageable risk.
Barriers and solutions for mobilizing private capital
A central obstacle to more private capital in the water sector lies in the lack of investable models. Even when the issue is recognized, there is often a lack of suitable opportunities to channel capital into water projects in an impact-oriented and structured way. In addition, many investors lack the necessary expertise for the diverse framework conditions in the water sector.
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Another essential aspect is de-risking. The water sector has traditionally been characterized by large projects with long planning and construction phases, considerable construction risks, and extremely long payback periods - especially in the area of pipeline networks and structural infrastructure. Such project structures make it significantly more difficult to involve private capital.
Grasshopper Investments has responded by developing two solution models for centralized and decentralized drinking water supply in order to overcome precisely these hurdles. Both models aim to limit risks, enable scalability, and open new avenues for private engagement in the water sector.​
Clean Water -
the whole world depends on you.
Water will become the biggest global investment theme over the next decade.
Global finance is waking up to water as core, not niche, infrastructure. For example SEB calls water a coming “megatrend,” driven by hydrological volatility, urban growth and the need to modernise aging systems - conditions that create durable, regulated demand for high-quality assets and data-rich, technology upgrades. environmental-finance.com
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Yet the sector remains undercapitalised relative to need: the World Bank estimates a multi-trillion-dollar funding gap to meet water-related goals by 2030, with public sources still providing the overwhelming share of spend. This mismatch between essential demand and available capital is precisely where private investors can add value—through scalable, technology-only projects with shorter delivery cycles, measurable performance, and transparent risk controls. World Bank Blogs
The investment case is reinforced by the water–energy nexus. Pumping, treatment and desalination are significant power users; in regions like the Middle East, desalination’s share of final energy demand is set to rise sharply - further elevating the premium on efficient, right-sized solutions. Investors who back efficiency, digital monitoring, and microbiological safety can capture both reliability (adaptation) and avoided energy use (mitigation) in a single thesis.
In short: water is indispensable, investable, and increasingly measurable - the kind of long-term theme institutions seek for resilient, performance-linked returns.
​Our two main business models for water infrastructure projects
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Model A — Turnkey Project Finance (short maturities):
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Technology-only EPC + O&M light, rapid deployment
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Short construction & ramp-up, defined acceptance tests
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Revenue based on availability/performance SLAs
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Use cases: plant-level technology upgrades and efficiency packages, building safe-water systems at scale
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Model B — PPPs in Water (mid- to long-term maturities, asset-based water infrastructure projects, without privatization):
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Public water suppliers retains ownership and control
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Private partner provides technology, financing, and performance delivery
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Payment from utility off-taker via service fees or availability payments
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De-risking: proven tech, redundancy, remote monitoring, escrowed O&M, performance bonds, no construction risks
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Use cases: municipal drinking water treatment programs, non-revenue-water & citywide building-water upgrades
Why technology-only?
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Faster cycles, no construction risks, scalable replication, auditable KPIs, and clear climate co-benefits ​​
We have the projects, know how & concepts
You can contribute & participate with financing
Grown Project Pipeline Since 2009
Good water projects don’t fall from the sky
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In the water sector, nothing happens overnight. Good water projects – especially in public water infrastructure – are the result of years of professional planning, preparation and coordination.
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​(For many investors, energy projects, like solar or wind projects feel familiar at first sight: there is a site, a project developer, a permit, a contract – and you can “step in”. In public water supply, the path to a project is very different and usually much longer.)
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How public water infrastructure projects are created
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Large water infrastructure projects start with the public utilities, not with private companies. Together with specialised engineering and water consultants, utilities develop:
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Water Master Plans
National or regional water master plans define how drinking water supply shall develop over the next 10 - 30 years:
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Where new water infrastructure must be build
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Where capacity needs to be increased
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Which plants must be rehabilitated
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Where new technologies are required
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Definition of single projects
From these master plans, individual projects are defined – for example:
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New water infrastructure and treatment plants to be built
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Capacity expansion of existing plants
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Rehabilitation and replacement of old technologies
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Public tenders
These projects are then prepared for public tender.
This is a highly structured and formal process:-
Detailed technical specifications
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Often hundreds of pages of tender documents
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Multiple addenda and clarifications during the tender process
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International or national competitive bidding
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General contractors and implementation
For large projects (often in the range of EUR 30 - 800 million), a general contractor (EPC) is selected to build the project and handle civil works, pipelines, buildings, etc.
For some rehabilitation projects, especially where only technologies are replaced, the tender may directly focus on technology suppliers.
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Throughout all these steps, professional parties are involved:
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Public utilities and water authorities
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International and local engineering firms
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Technical consultants
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Auditors, advisors and sometimes development agencies
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Where Grasshopper comes in
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Grasshopper does not write water master plans and does not act as a general civil contractor (for large construction works).
We enter the process at the level of water treatment technologies, once projects have been defined and are moving into tender and implementation:
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In large infrastructure projects, we participate as a technology partner – either within turnkey contracts or within PPP structures with integrated financing.
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In rehabilitation projects, where old technologies are replaced, we can also participate in direct technology tenders without a general contractor.
Our role is to provide:
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Our proven, modular technology concepts for drinking water treatment
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Technical project support and integration into the overall plant design
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Financing solutions for the technology part within turnkey or PPP structures
This requires not just products and technologies, but also a deep understanding of:
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How water utilities and consultants work
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How public tenders are structured
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How long and complex the path from a master plan to a real project can be
Long development cycles – and why patience is essential
Water infrastructure is long-term by nature.
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Master plans can take years to prepare and agree.
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The definition and evaluation of single projects takes time.
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Tender documents for large plants can easily run to hundreds or even thousands of pages, including multiple addenda.
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Selecting a general contractor and finalising contracts is another multi-stage process.
Only after all this, technology contracts and financing structures can be finalised.
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A growing project pipeline – built over 17 years
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Our current project pipeline has grown step by step over 17 years of hard work and experience in the water sector.
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On the basis of our modular technology concept and long-term relationships with technology and implementation partners, consultants and utilities, a project pipeline with a current volume of around EUR 50 million has developed – and continues to grow, with a clear perspective towards around EUR 100 million.
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To implement this pipeline, Grasshopper is structuring a series of water bonds and securitisation models. These investments are designed for professional private investors who want to allocate capital to real water infrastructure – in a sector that is essential, but still underrepresented in many portfolios.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
The picture shows potential project locations in a public network for drinking water supply.
In particular PPP structures (that generate long-term recurring payments from public water utilities) make it possible to pool the resulting receivables and place them on the capital market through asset-backed securitisations.
​From Projects to Products:
Blue Bonds & Private Placements
Financing Essential Water At Scale
To open the water sector for institutional and professional private investors, we offer private placements and we are launching a Blue Bonds series. Use-of-proceeds is dedicated to technology-only water projects across three pipelines:
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(1) centralized water utility projects,
(2) decentralized safe-water programs (Gold Standard-certified), and
(3) private-sector solutions for hospitals, mobility, housing, hotels and agriculture.
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Our structuring relies on diversified portfolios, robust covenants, external verification, and regular impact reporting (e.g., people reached with safe water, energy saved per m³, avoided emissions from boiling, plastic reduction from displaced packaged water). The goal: convert essential water projects into a transparent, repeatable, investment-grade-oriented product universe.
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Clean Drinking Water