Sandwater Research
Investment Thesis
Sandwater is a venture capital firm built around a clear impact-driven thesis: back early-stage companies that can help solve the large, structural problems shaping climate, energy, healthcare, and industrial productivity. Its own site describes the firm as backing early-stage companies that build solutions for the change needed, and its thematic framing centers on resource efficiency, productivity and resilience, and energy transition. The throughline is not generic software investing. Sandwater wants companies with technical depth, real-world utility, and a path to meaningful scale in markets that are large, global, and often underserved by conventional venture capital.
A second part of the thesis is the firm’s willingness to support both software and hardware. Sandwater explicitly says it looks for software-hardware combinations, deep tech, and hybrid solutions that can commercialize into durable businesses. That shows up in the portfolio: robotics, biogas, virtual fencing, electric motors, natural hydrogen, digital health, and pharmacy automation. The firm seems especially drawn to companies where technology can reshape a real operating workflow, not just add a layer of software convenience.
Stage Focus
Sandwater positions itself as an early-stage investor, but not at the very earliest experimental edge. Its site says the firm typically invests from Seed to Series B, and a 2023 fund-close announcement described its focus as late seed to Series B. That is a fairly wide band, but it is still anchored in companies that have moved beyond idea stage and into product validation, market expansion, or scaling.
The pattern in recent activity reinforces that view. Sandwater has been active in Seed, Series A, and Series B financing, often backing companies that already have some proof points: CurifyLabs at Series A, Mantle8 at Series A, Filics at Series A, Nofence at Series B, Soil Capital at Series B, and XO Life at Seed with later follow-on support. The firm appears to like the zone where there is still meaningful upside, but where the company has crossed the threshold from pure technical promise to commercial momentum.
Check Size
Sandwater’s website says its typical initial ticket size is €2M to €10M, and the fund-close article explains that the firm wants to write checks into rounds that are at least twice its investment size, while also following on with more capital. That implies a fund strategy built for lead or co-lead participation in sizable rounds rather than small symbolic allocations.
The investment range fits the broader profile: a fund large enough to support capital-intensive deep-tech, climate, and health companies through scaling milestones, but still early enough to influence ownership and company trajectory. The firm’s public language suggests it expects to contribute more than capital, including help with strategy, key hires, customer introductions, governance, and next-round preparation.
Lead Tendency
Sandwater generally behaves like a collaborative lead investor. Its website says it leads rounds but does not have to do so, and the firm’s news flow shows both lead and co-lead behavior. Recent examples include leading Alva Industries’ €16M round and Sandwater’s co-leading role in CurifyLabs’ €12M Series A alongside HealthCap.
The more important signal is that Sandwater seems comfortable being a hands-on, high-conviction partner in deals where it believes the fit is strong. It is not passive capital. Even when it is not the formal lead, the language on the site emphasizes close partnership, active support, and a willingness to help founders execute through the hard parts of scaling.
Recent Activity
Sandwater has been especially active in mid-2025 through mid-2026. Recent public investments and announcements include CurifyLabs, Alva Industries, Mantle8, XO Life, Filics, and Nofence. The firm also announced a new defense fund for Ukraine operated by Sandwater and expanded into Munich by bringing in Alexander Domin as partner. In March 2026, Sandwater published “The Sandbox,” a post about building a more data-driven VC workflow and using AI to improve deal scoring and portfolio insight.
The pace of activity suggests a fund that is actively deploying rather than preserving dry powder. The portfolio and news flow also show a clear tilt toward capital-efficient but technically ambitious companies in climate, health, and deep tech.
Portfolio Highlights
Sandwater’s company page highlights a portfolio spanning humanoid robotics, surgical robotics, digital biomarkers, biogas, regenerative agriculture, second-life batteries, climate software, and electric motors. The mix is consistent with the firm’s three themes and its preference for solutions that move real-world systems toward greater efficiency or lower emissions.
Notable companies include:
- 1X Technologies, which launched the consumer-ready humanoid robot NEO.
- Nofence, the virtual fencing company now operating across multiple markets.
- CMR Surgical, a major surgical robotics company.
- CardioSignal, which uses smartphone-based motion sensing for cardiac detection.
- Enduro Genetics, focused on bioproduction at scale.
- Soil Capital, which supports regenerative agriculture and supply-chain resilience.
- Filics, which is automating pallet transport in tight intralogistics environments.
- Mantle8, which is exploring natural hydrogen.
Team
Sandwater’s team is concentrated in Oslo with a Stockholm presence and a recent Munich expansion.
- Tom Even Mortensen, Managing Partner
- Kristian Melhuus, Partner
- Torkel Engeness, Partner
- Adele Unneberg, Investment Director
- Katherine Mellis, Investment Director
- Chloe Fu, Investment Manager
- Didrik Dewan, Investment Associate
The team page also lists operations and communications leadership, which reinforces that Sandwater has built the infrastructure to support a more active, portfolio-heavy model.
Decision Process
Sandwater appears to use a partnership-oriented decision process. The website emphasizes conviction, experience, and close involvement with founders, and it describes a deliberate gameplan for the next stage after investment. That reads like a collaborative but structured process rather than a solo-GP or purely bureaucratic committee model.
The firm also invests in rounds with strong consortiums and explicitly says it likes to build great investor syndicates. That suggests a preference for pragmatic coordination, high trust, and shared execution across investors.
Founder Preferences
Sandwater seems to favor technical, mission-driven founders who can translate hard science or engineering into commercially relevant products. It repeatedly highlights deep technical competence, clear commercial acumen, and a contagious level of passion. It also says it looks for driven teams solving urgent and complex challenges, with global potential and the ability to scale technology and commercialization.
The ideal founder profile looks like someone who can operate across product, science, and go-to-market. Sandwater appears especially interested in founders willing to work closely with the firm on strategy, hiring, governance, introductions, and the next fundraise. In practice, that means the firm likely values coachability and execution discipline alongside invention.
Geographic Focus
Sandwater is clearly Nordic-rooted and Oslo-based, with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. Its stated geography is Nordics plus Northern Europe, and its portfolio and recent rounds confirm activity across Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the broader Northern European market.
That geographic focus matters because many of the firm’s target categories are capital-intensive and benefit from proximity to strong industrial, scientific, and climate ecosystems. Sandwater is not a broad global generalist. It is a regionally concentrated deep-tech and impact investor with international ambition but a defined operating base.