Frank Balas is a water tech focused venture capitalist with a wealth of experience in managing a global water fund activity of over USD 100M. With investors like Temasek, SKion Water, Ecolab, and Microsoft, he leads a team of water professionals and shapes the fund's strategy while also supporting its portfolio companies on business matters. Balas is fluent in German, English, and Spanish and has a basic understanding of French. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from ETH Zurich and his Master's degree in Civil Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Balas has served as a board director at various companies, including Optimatics and Pure Technologies, where he played significant roles in their acquisitions. He has also been involved in co-founding the ripple2wave incubator and has served in several advisory positions in organizations like Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN), WaterTAP Ontario, EU research project DEMEAU, Swiss Bluetec Bridge, Bluetech Innovation Forum, Sembcorp Water Innovation Nanjing Accelerator, Singapore TechXchange, and World Water-Tech Investment Summit. Balas has specialties in underground infrastructure, startups, innovation, entrepreneurs, cleantech, and water technologies and markets.