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Gradiant
Gradiant is the MIT spin-out that became water tech's first unicorn, building 3,000 treatment plants and reclaiming 8.5B liters of wastewater daily.
Gradiant
Gradiant deploys advanced water treatment solutions and technologies to solve the toughest water challenges for the world's critical industries.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2013
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Boston
Corporate office
Boston, MA, United States
Additional offices
New York, NY, United States · Menlo Park, CA, United States · Singapore · Abu Dhabi, UAE · London, United Kingdom
Principals
Anurag Bajpayee
Co-Founder & Executive Chairman
Prakash Govindan
Co-Founder & CEO
Govind Alagappan
COO
Ananth Padmanabhan
CFO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Is Gradiant a venture-funded startup or an operating water company?
Gradiant is a privately held operating company that designs, builds, and sometimes owns industrial water treatment plants. It reached unicorn valuation status in 2023 but has not publicly disclosed its funding rounds, shareholders, or current valuation. The company generates revenue from turnkey project delivery, chemicals sales, and long-term service contracts rather than licensing IP alone.
What makes Gradiant's technology stack different from conventional water treatment?
Gradiant combines thermal separation (Carrier Gas Extraction), membrane processes (Counterflow Reverse Osmosis), and selective chemistry inside a single proprietary stack, with machine learning from its Synauta acquisition layered on top for real-time plant optimization. This vertical integration — from in-house chemical formulation to AI-driven process control — lets the firm guarantee recovery rates and effluent quality rather than selling discrete equipment.
Who are Gradiant's actual end customers?
Gradiant lists semiconductors and data centers, food and beverage, mining and critical minerals, renewables, energy, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Named clients from the firm's published testimonials include GSK, Archroma, JDE, and Aqualia. The company says it secured its first Fortune 100 customer in 2016.
Does Gradiant disclose its financials or ownership structure?
No. Revenue, profit, AUM, and cap table are not publicly disclosed. The co-founders, Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan, remain active as Chairman and CEO, respectively, suggesting they retain operating control. The firm has not published funding round details, investor names, or precise valuation figures beyond the 2023 unicorn designation.
What is Gradiant's posture on lithium and critical minerals?
Gradiant launched alkaLi in November 2024 as a spin-out focused on direct lithium extraction. The EC² technology claims a 97% lithium recovery rate from Salar brines in North America. The firm publicly positions lithium and rare-earth recovery from oilfield and industrial wastewater as part of a domestic critical-minerals supply chain strategy.
How does Gradiant's PFAS solution work, and is it commercially deployed?
ForeverGone, named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2024, is Gradiant's PFAS removal-and-destruction system. The firm describes it as an all-in-one solution that permanently eliminates PFAS from municipal and industrial water. Deployment status beyond the award announcement is not publicly detailed.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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