Newly Contracted Up To $5M from National Science Foundation and Receives $5M Investment from M.A. Mortenson Companies, Inc.

Boulder, CO, USA – Virridy, a leader in carbon credit project development and technology for global water resilience, has recently secured up to $10 million in new capital to expand its work. The investment includes a nearly $5 million dollar contract from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and a $3 million equity investment from M.A. Mortenson Companies, Inc. (Mortenson), building on Mortenson's prior $2 million advance purchase of high-quality carbon credits from Virridy. Together, these investments will significantly advance the development and deployment of innovative, science-based solutions that address the crisis of water insecurity.

This new funding will greatly accelerate Virridy's global portfolio of carbon-financed water access, irrigation improvement and watershed restoration programs, with partners including the Millennium Water Alliance, Netafim, and the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Virridy is now piloting its patented Lume™ water quality sensor, an advanced solution for detection of fecal coliforms, dissolved organic matter and algae. The Lume is a compact, autonomous, internet-connected sensor that estimates water quality levels using tryptophan-like fluorescence and machine learning. The Lume is presently being used by partners in Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Paris, Kenya and Rwanda.

New Funding Details

The NSF award comes through the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) and the Convergence Accelerator Program, where Virridy continues as a 2023 Cohort member now in Phase 2 of the Future Water Systems track. For 75 years, the U.S. National Science Foundation has been at the forefront of research, innovation and education, transforming American lives, powering the U.S. economy, and driving U.S. competitiveness and national security.

M.A Mortenson Companies, Inc., has been actively engaged in impact and mission-aligned investments for over two decades. "Virridy's programs are delivering measurable environmental impacts alongside powerful social and environmental co-benefits," said Mark Mortenson. "We see this as a high-impact opportunity that aligns with our commitment to investing in resilient infrastructure, sustainable communities, and access to basic services."

Virridy's carbon-financed water projects trace their roots to 2007, when CEO Evan Thomas implemented the world's first UN Clean Development Mechanism and Gold Standard program to generate carbon credits from water treatment. These efforts have since grown into a global portfolio that has directly delivered clean water to more than five million people globally.

"This infusion of capital—from both private and public sources—is a vote of confidence in a new model for climate and water resilience," said Dr. Evan Thomas, CEO of Virridy. "By combining carbon finance, cutting-edge monitoring technology, and grounded partnerships, we're demonstrating that it's possible to deliver clean water, improve agricultural productivity, protect ecosystems, and reduce emissions at scale."

Virridy's Programs

Across Kenya, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar, with partners including the Millennium Water Alliance, Helvetas, Asili and LifeStraw, Virridy is deploying carbon-credit-supported drinking water infrastructure expected to serve over four million people by 2030 and generate more than one million carbon credits.

In agriculture, Virridy is partnering with Orbia Netafim—the world's largest precision irrigation company—as its exclusive global carbon project developer and offtaker. Launching with 1,000 hectares of participating farmland in Turkey in 2025, the program supports the adoption of precision irrigation and regenerative agriculture practices that reduce nitrous oxide emissions and increase soil sequestration.

In the United States, Virridy's "watershed carbon" initiative is developing new pathways to connect voluntary carbon markets to Clean Water Act compliance through nature-based solutions such as riparian restoration and improved land management.

About Virridy

Virridy specializes in water-focused carbon credit generation, leveraging digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (DMRV) technologies to quantify water and climate benefits. With expertise in carbon finance and water resiliency projects, Virridy drives investments in sustainable water management across the globe.

About TIP

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) engages all Americans in accelerating critical and emerging technologies to advance U.S. competitiveness. For more information, visit nsf.gov/tip/latest.

About Mortenson

M. A. Mortenson Companies Inc. is the parent company of Mortenson Construction, a U.S.-based, top-25 developer, builder and engineering services provider serving the commercial, institutional, and energy sectors.

Media Contact: Alex Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer, Virridy