The Make Water Work Podcast - Episode 14 Featuring Tom Ferguson

Episode 14: Tom Ferguson - The Next Wave of Water Innovation

In this episode of Make Water Work, Megan Glover and Isaac Pellerin sit down with Tom Ferguson, managing partner and founder of Burnt Island Ventures, for a fast-moving conversation on AI, founder market fit, and why water is one of the most overlooked opportunities in climate tech.

Tom shares how a pro bono project in London pulled him into water, how Imagine H2O shaped his view of startups, and what led him to launch a dedicated early stage fund focused on water. He explains why public data for water is often “crap,” why that matters for generalized AI, and why the real opportunity sits in small, vertical language models built on proprietary utility data.

From portfolio strategy to predictions for 2026, Tom talks about what makes a great water founder, why fundraising is also advocacy for water, and where he believes the next wave of value will be created.