Launching World's First Commercial Subsea Desalination Plant, Flocean adds Xylem as Strategic Investor and Extends Series A Funding
Global Water Tech Leader Xylem to Help Scale Flocean's Desalination Solutions; Series A Funding Extended to $22.5M
Flocean, the Norwegian subsea desalination company recently named as a TIME Best Invention of 2025, today announced it has extended its total Series A funding to $22.5M (NOK 228 million).
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251118762365/en/
Flocean One Outside Mongstad: Alver Mayor Nina Bognøy with Flocean Founder & CEO Alex Fuglesang and Flocean VP Products and Strategy Nils Halvor Heieren (Photo: Flocean)
The extension adds Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) as a strategic investor alongside backing from existing investors Burnt Island Ventures, Freebird Capital, Katapult Ocean, Nysnø Climate Investments, and new investors Ari Emanuel, Orion, Rypples and Wellers Impact's Water Unite Impact Fund. The CEO of Asset Buyout Partners (ABP), building on their long-term real estate and infrastructure partnership with Flocean, also participated. Xylem, a leading global water solutions partner, will help scale Flocean's desalination technology worldwide, addressing the increasing global demand for fresh water from consumers and industrial facilities alike.
Flocean also announced an agreement with Norway's Alver Municipality to explore offering Flocean's water to the Municipality's industrial and consumer customers, and to assess its integration into existing water infrastructure. Flocean has already been desalinating water for 12 months at its test site at Norway's largest offshore supply base, Mongstad Industrial Park, owned by ABP and located in Alver.
The proceeds of the Series A round will fund the launch and operation of Flocean One—the world's first demonstrator and commercial subsea desalination plant—in 2026 at Mongstad. The funding will also support continued organizational growth and advance large-scale commercial projects across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and island nations.
Conventional Desalination Struggles to Keep Pace with Global Freshwater Demand
Global freshwater demand is rising sharply, driven by climate volatility, population growth, and industrial expansion. But conventional desalination infrastructure struggles to keep pace—constrained by multi-year permitting timelines, massive capital costs, and limited coastal land.
Flocean's subsea approach delivers a fundamentally different economic model. By moving desalination systems 400–600 meters below the water, the technology leverages the natural pressure of the ocean to reduce cost and deployment time:
- 7-8x lower capital cost per unit of capacity compared to conventional SWRO desal-plants in Western regions
- 50% reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
- 95% less coastal land use, reducing land acquisition and permitting delays
- 60% reduction in pre-treatment infrastructure, accelerating deployment
- Zero chemical pre-treatment required
- No toxic brine discharge, as chemical-free discharge occurs deep below sensitive habitats
"We're not making an incremental improvement—we're changing the fundamental economics of water," said Alexander Fuglesang, Founder & CEO of Flocean. "Water-intensive industries from semiconductors to data centers to mining are increasingly constrained by water scarcity. They need solutions that can deploy faster, cost less, and operate more sustainably. That's exactly what subsea desalination delivers."
Flocean operates under a Build-Own-Operate model, selling water as a service to municipal and industrial clients under long-term, bankable offtake agreements spanning 15-25 years. The company has secured initial project agreements in multiple countries, including collaborations with utilities in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean regions.
"Flocean's subsea desalination technology represents a bold leap forward in how we produce fresh water and address water scarcity -- one of the most urgent challenges of our time," said Snehal Desai, Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Xylem. "As demand for water accelerates globally, we're investing in breakthrough technologies that have strong potential to scale. This partnership reflects our commitment to solving water with innovation that empowers our customers and communities to build a more water-secure world."
Flocean also joins the Xylem Innovation Labs Accelerator, Xylem's global program to scale breakthrough water technologies through its global reach and expertise.
"We are excited to collaborate with Flocean on testing their groundbreaking water desalination technology," said Nina Bognøy, Mayor of Alver Municipality. "Our municipality applauds bold efforts like this and we will work as a team to evaluate and consider Flocean's offering for both local industrial users, as well as the municipal network."
Flocean One will produce 1,000 cubic meters of freshwater daily when it launches in 2026. The modular design enables systems to scale from 5,000 to 50,000 cubic meters per day, serving municipalities, industrial operations, and agricultural clients in over 90 water-stressed coastal markets globally.
About Flocean
Flocean AS is a Norwegian subsea desalination company transforming how the world produces freshwater. Its patented, modular systems use the natural pressure and consistent water quality at 400–600 meters ocean depth to deliver low-cost, low-carbon drinking water—without toxic brine discharge or coastal infrastructure footprint. Founded in 2024 as a spin-out from FSubsea, Flocean combines three decades of subsea engineering heritage with a mission to deliver climate-resilient water at industrial scale.
For more information, visit www.flocean.green
About Xylem
Xylem (XYL) is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company that empowers customers and communities to build a more water-secure world. Our 23,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $8.6 billion in 2024, optimizing water and resource management with innovation and expertise. Join us at www.xylem.com and Let's Solve Water.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251118762365/en/
Media Contact:
Faiz Mandviwalla, Chart Comms
[email protected]