Cleantech investors Ombu Group and Hermes GPE Environmental Innovation Fund are coming together to lead a £22.5 million investment in Bluewater Bio International.

The water and wastewater treatment technologies business will see £16.5 million of new money. The deal is one of the largest growth capital finance rounds in the water sector over the last 12 months, according to the Bluewater Bio board.

Its wastewater treatment technology is reported to save 40 per cent in energy usage and up to 50 per cent in plant footprint. The business has closed a £13 million contract with the Ministry of Works in Bahrain and a recent UK order with Severn Trent Water.

David Ishag, founder and CEO of Bluewater Bio, comments, ‘Whilst this financing contributes crucial expansion capital to our business, the accompanying intellectual capital is just as important.

‘Both Ombu and Hermes GE bring valuable sector and territorial experience, and we look forward to working with them as genuinely strategic partners.

Stephen Brooke, CEO of Ombu Group, says that water technology is a core sector at Ombu, with Bluewater Bio being the ‘most exciting company’ it has seen in some time.

‘They have developed a number of proprietary, robust and economically compelling products, and successfully established reference projects and partnerships in multiple countries,’ he adds.