Oilfield water management company Sourcewater secured series A funding from backers including Marubeni and Bison having launched from MIT’s Energy Ventures program in 2014.
Sourcewater, a US-based oilfield water management intelligence provider aligned with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), completed a $7.2m series A round on Wednesday led by Bison Technologies, a subsidiary of energy services provider Bison.
Diversified conglomerate Marubeni took part in the round, together with unnamed family offices connected with the energy industry.
Sourcewater provides oil and gas producers with geospatial data-driven market intelligence concerning the water supplies used for their operations, covering areas such as water logistics, recycling and waste management.
Oil and gas producers use large quantities of water which must then be recycled or discarded, with even greater amounts required for unconventional production techniques such as fracking.
Sourcewater’s data comes from satellite imagery, government databases, market research and internet-of-things sensors. It also runs a marketplace where clients can buy or sell water supplies.
The company emerged from MIT’s Energy Ventures program in 2014 under founder and CEO Justin Adler’s lead after he had earned his MBA and Sloan fellowship in innovation and global leadership.
The capital will support recruitment in data science and engineering as Sourcewater aims to build its product offer in the water and energy production segments. It secured $500,000 in debt financing from undisclosed investors in late 2017, according to a securities filing.
North Whipple, CEO of Bison Technologies, said: “Having built the top water midstream, infrastructure and logistics company in Oklahoma, we are well aware of the critical importance of accurate, timely and complete water market data for our business and investment decisions.
