Cleanwater1
End-to-end water quality, filtration and wastewater solutions
Invested: June 2022 | Status: Current investment | Headquarters: Milpitas, CA
About Cleanwater1
Cleanwater1 is a leading provider of end-to-end water quality solutions, gas-phase filtration and wastewater treatment products and solutions for the municipal and industrial utility markets. From chemical feed and mixing to disinfection and system optimization, Cleanwater1 helps utilities and industrial facilities meet the demands of safe, compliant and cost-effective operations.
Originally formed from a set of specialist businesses (previously operating under the UGSI / Underground Solutions brands), the company today is a unified, IP-backed platform with strong positioning across chemical feed, water quality and gas-phase air filtration, delivering solutions that are a vital component of water and wastewater quality improvement projects across the United States.
Measurable Outcomes
Revenue growth since our hold period began
EBITDA growth over the same period
Increase in backlog since 2020
Why Baird Capital Invested in Cleanwater1
We were drawn to the opportunity to invest in a market leader in attractive, high-growth and fragmented water-infrastructure segments. Baird Capital Global Fund II invested for a majority position with a thesis built around scaling leading specified water-treatment solutions into the municipal and industrial water and wastewater sector. The opportunity rested on three clear levers of value:
- Increased penetration into industrial and commercial markets.
- Improved services into the large installed base.
- Continued M&A to add complementary solutions and capabilities.
The thesis was reinforced by strong, resilient macro drivers: declining source-water quality and emerging contaminants, water scarcity and demand growth, aging infrastructure well past its useful life, a retiring municipal workforce driving automation, supply-chain resiliency pressures, biosolids requirements and the re-shoring of U.S. manufacturing – all of which underpin the unfolding multi-year reinvestment cycle in water infrastructure.
Partnering with Cleanwater1's Founders
After we invested in Cleanwater1, our teams determined thesis first required foundational work: unifying the legacy sister-company businesses into a single organization, improving financial performance, upgrading systems infrastructure and deepening management bench strength. We partnered with industry veteran David Stanton as CEO to lead the unified organization and facilitate the retirement of the founder team. In turn, this laid the groundwork for a founder-first M&A strategy that has made Cleanwater1 a partner of choice for owner-operated businesses in the sector.
The Situation: How Baird Capital Supported Cleanwater1
With a unified organization and strong leadership in place, we’ve supported the business’ growth in numerous ways, including:
- Developing a pipeline of M&A add-on targets and completed four add-on acquisitions to meaningfully expand platform scale and reach, including Velodyne, IMS, ICS and PureAir.
- Launching a commercial partnership with Germany-based TriOS to broaden the technology offering.
- Driving sustained organic growth through adoption of water quality, wastewater and gas-phase filtration solutions across municipal and industrial customers.
Cleanwater1 has delivered sustained double-digit revenue growth through a combination of organic momentum and add-on acquisitions. Combined organic and M&A growth has created significant value, and the platform is well positioned to continue capitalizing on generational investment in water infrastructure.