Cobalt Water Global Opens European Headquarters in the Netherlands
Landing at WaterCampus Leeuwarden, the American startup aims to accelerate its intelligent wastewater solutions in Europe
U.S.-based climate tech company Cobalt Water Global opened its new European headquarters at WaterCampus Leeuwarden on November 1, 2025. The startup specializes in intelligent software that helps wastewater treatment facilities reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the treatment process. From its Leeuwarden base in the heart of the Dutch water tech ecosystem, the company aims to accelerate expansion throughout Europe.
“The main reason we chose Leeuwarden and WaterCampus is the unique innovation ecosystem that’s already been established here,” said Jose Porro, CEO of Cobalt Water. “It provides direct access to investors, customers, partners, and R&D facilities and funding. For us, that’s invaluable as we scale our impact.”
AI-enabled wastewater treatment to reduce emissions
Founded in 2020, Cobalt Water Global helps wastewater treatment facilities dramatically reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), known as laughing gas. This gas is released during wastewater treatment and is more harmful as a greenhouse gas than CO2. It also depletes the ozone layer and poses risks to air quality and public health.
Cobalt Water’s solution is its N2ORisk DSS platform. The software can estimate and predict nitrous oxide emissions in real time, using artificial intelligence to identify optimal process adjustments. The company sees it as “an all-in-one solution for measuring, reducing, monitoring and financially valuing the reduction of nitrous oxide emissions.” According to the company, this technology can lead to N2O emission reductions of up to 90 percent. In context, nitrous oxide can account for up to 80 percent of a treatment plant’s total emissions in some cases.
Familiar ground in the water tech capital of Europe
For Porro, the Netherlands was familiar territory before his company expanded there. After studying at nearby universities in Europe, he had built a strong network on the continent. “The Netherlands is where I started working on N2O back in 2010. There has been interest in N₂O there since, and even a national program to reduce N2O emissions from wastewater treatment plants,” he noted. “Between the experience of working there, the demand for N2O solutions and the ecosystem for N2O reduction, there was no better place to establish a base from which to scale our operations and impact.”
That ecosystem includes research groups, consultants, water authorities and technology providers like Cobalt Water. Moreover, WaterCampus brings the company into a broader water tech landscape, providing access to R&D resources, funding and facilities as well as networks of investors, customers and partners. Together, these assets make the Netherlands the water tech capital of Europe.
It is a logical place for Cobalt Water to build a home for its European operations, expand its international network and strengthen collaborations within the WaterCampus community. Over the next few years, the company will focus on several goals: establishing a long-term R&D program, growing its team, significantly increasing its number of deployments and tons of emissions reduced.
From first meetings to major impact in the Netherlands
Cobalt Water’s Porro first met the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency team at a World Water Day event organized by NFIA’s office in New York, where he was invited to speak about company’s existing work in the Netherlands. The conversation led to meetings with NFIA about the prospects of expanding in the country.
Soon NFIA connected Cobalt Water with Invest in Holland regional agency NOM and other partners in the city of Leeuwarden for further advice. This positioned the company to begin the process of incorporating, secure funding support through NOM and hire its first employees in the Netherlands.
Porro expressed strong ambitions to hit the ground running in the Dutch ecosystem: “Within three years, we hope to have substantially scaled our operations and impact throughout Europe, thanks in part to the support of NOM, the municipality of Leeuwarden and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.”
Source: Cobalt Water Global, NV NOM
22 December 2025