4Earth
4Earth designs modular, containerized ceramic-membrane water treatment systems (Ginseng) and an industrial intelligence platform (Thinking Factory) serving automotive, chemical, food and beverage, municipal, fleet, and heavy manufacturing customers across multiple U.S. states.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What 4Earth does
4Earth is a private industrial-technology company headquartered in Marietta, Georgia (Atlanta metro) that designs and manufactures modular, containerized water treatment systems for industrial, municipal, and commercial customers. The company's flagship Ginseng product family is built around ceramic flat-sheet ultrafiltration membrane technology using silicon carbide (SiC) with a 0.1 μm rating, packaged in 20-foot and 40-foot containerized units that integrate pretreatment, ultrafiltration, and optional polishing steps (reverse osmosis or granular activated carbon). The systems are designed to deploy in 8-12 weeks versus the 6-12 months typical of custom-engineered solutions, and are supported by proprietary software that uses machine learning to optimize energy and chemical usage in real time and to predict maintenance needs.
Beyond water treatment hardware, 4Earth operates a second product line called Thinking Factory — an industrial intelligence platform that connects to existing facility sensors via Modbus, OPC-UA, and MQTT (with a Factory Vision IO-Link hardware device) to deliver digital twin visualization, predictive maintenance, equipment health scoring, and a three-tier operational view for executives, plant managers, and floor staff. The company monetizes through capital sales of full Ginseng systems, monthly leases of Ginseng equipment, the One Service water-treatment-as-a-service subscription (software, remote visualization, analytics, maintenance, and notifications), and a compact Ginseng Phantom unit priced from $99,000 for small-scale applications.
4Earth sells primarily through enterprise field sales targeting automotive manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz Vans), chemical processors (Central Life Sciences, an agrochemical producer in Texas), food and beverage producers (a Georgia cereal manufacturer), municipal water authorities (City of Springfield), fleet and logistics operators (Cox Enterprises), and heavy manufacturing (an EPDM rubber producer). Named deployments span South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas, and the company has strategic partnerships with Mercedes-Benz, Cox Enterprises, and Siemens to extend reach into automotive, fleet, and critical infrastructure segments. The company was founded in 2020, has 11-50 employees, and has raised modest external capital to date.
4Earth firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- 4Earth
- Legal name
- 4Earth, Inc.
- Website
- https://4earth.tech
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- 4Earth designs modular, containerized ceramic-membrane water treatment systems (Ginseng) and an industrial intelligence platform (Thinking Factory) serving automotive, chemical, food and beverage, municipal, fleet, and heavy manufacturing customers across multiple U.S. states.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
4Earth industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial Water Treatment Systems
- NAICS
- Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Sewage Treatment Facilities (22132)
- SIC
- Water Supply (4941)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industrial Water Reuse Utilities (ZLD/MLD & Process Water Recycling) (EUANAGAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Advanced Treatment & Purification Utilities (MF/UF, RO, AOP, UV) (EUANAGAD), Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant Equipment (Clarifiers, Aeration, Membrane Systems) (IMAHAEAJ), Non‑Potable Reuse Utilities (Irrigation, Industrial, Cooling) (EUANAGAA)
Keywords
Where 4Earth is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
4Earth business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Water Treatment Systems (Capital Sale): Sale of Ginseng modular water treatment systems including hardware and software. Customers can purchase the full system outright with full hardware and software included. Systems available in 20ft and 40ft container configurations.
- Water Treatment Systems (Lease): Monthly payment method for Ginseng systems, allowing facilities to lease equipment rather than purchase outright. Provides flexibility for facilities seeking reduced capital expenditure.
- One Service Subscription: Water treatment as a service subscription covering software and remote visualization, advanced analytics, maintenance service, assisted remote support, and real-time SMS and email notifications. Delivered as ongoing monthly/annual subscription for deployed Ginseng systems.
- Ginseng Phantom Compact System: Compact modular water reuse system starting at $99,000 for rainwater harvesting, stormwater recovery, pool water treatment, and light industrial water reuse applications.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | One time | Ginseng Containerized Water Treatment System |
| Subscription | Monthly | Ginseng Monthly Lease |
| Subscription | Monthly | One Service Subscription |
| Unit Pricing | One time | Ginseng Phantom Compact System |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
4Earth product offering
Product offeringCore offering
4Earth designs and manufactures modular, containerized water treatment systems (Ginseng family) built around ceramic flat sheet ultrafiltration (SiC) membrane technology, deployable in 20ft or 40ft containers within 8-12 weeks, and turns industrial wastewater into a reusable asset for cooling towers, irrigation, washdown, and production reuse. It also offers Thinking Factory, an industrial intelligence software platform with Factory Vision hardware that unifies sensor data across manufacturing facilities into a single real-time operational view for predictive maintenance and digital twin capabilities.
Product overview
4Earth offers a portfolio of modular, containerized water treatment systems and an industrial intelligence software platform. The core product line is the Ginseng family — smart, modular, containerized water treatment systems built around ceramic flat sheet ultrafiltration membrane technology. The Ginseng product range includes the base Ginseng system (20ft/40ft containers), Ginseng Element (adds RO or GAC polishing), Ginseng React (pretreatment stage), Ginseng Prime (full-stack integrated system), Ginseng Phantom (compact unit from $99,000), and Ginseng Scout (mobile testing unit). All Ginseng units are supported by the One Service subscription and deployed via the Ginseng Confidence Method. Separately, Thinking Factory is an industrial intelligence platform with Factory Vision hardware that connects to existing facility sensors via Modbus/OPC-UA/MQTT to deliver real-time digital twin, predictive maintenance, and three levels of operational visibility across heavy industry.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ginseng: Smart, modular, containerized water treatment system built to turn wastewater into a reusable asset. Includes variants: ginseng (core), ginseng element (with RO/GAC polishing), ginseng react (pretreatment stage), ginseng prime (full-stack), ginseng phantom (compact), and ginseng scout (mobile testing unit).
- Thinking Factory
- Terra
Products and services
- Ginseng Smart, modular, containerized water treatment system using ceramic flat sheet ultrafiltration membrane technology that turns industrial wastewater into a reusable asset. Removes total suspended solids (TSS), oils, and turbidity from industrial process water, car wash wastewater, paint and epoxy wastewater, and general industrial effluent streams for industrial facilities.
- Ginseng Element Advanced modular wastewater treatment system that adds a reverse osmosis (RO) or granular activated carbon (GAC) polishing step to the core ultrafiltration system, delivering high-purity water reuse output for mission-critical industrial applications including data center cooling and precision manufacturing processes.
- Ginseng React Industrial effluent pretreatment system that adds a pretreatment stage to the core ceramic membrane filtration system, designed for complex or heavily contaminated influent streams including cooling tower blowdown, high-TDS industrial brines, chemical process wastewater, and streams requiring COD and heavy metals reduction prior to ultrafiltration.
- Ginseng Prime Complete full-stack containerized water treatment system combining pretreatment, ceramic ultrafiltration, and a polishing step in a single integrated packaged plant, designed for facilities requiring full-spectrum decentralized wastewater treatment from raw influent to high-purity reuse output, including zero liquid discharge applications.
- Ginseng Phantom Compact modular water reuse system priced from $99,000, designed for rainwater harvesting, stormwater recovery, pool water treatment, and light industrial water reuse. Fridge-sized footprint with self-cleaning ceramic membranes, enables decentralized water reuse for commercial property managers, facility managers, and aquatics directors without large-scale infrastructure investment.
- Ginseng Scout Mobile water treatment unit and on-site water testing system used for field water analysis and water chemistry verification prior to full system deployment, supporting rapid site assessment for industrial water recycling system selection and configuration.
- Thinking Factory Industrial intelligence platform and operations & maintenance software that unifies sensor data across manufacturing facilities into a single real-time operational view accessible to both operations and maintenance teams. Features Factory Vision hardware, live digital twin, three visibility levels (executive, plant manager, floor), and predictive maintenance alerts. Connects via Modbus, OPC-UA, and MQTT protocols.
- Factory Vision Hardware device that interfaces with IO-Link sensors to capture and transmit real-time data from equipment including motors, pumps, compressors, chillers, air recovery units, paint booths, and oil tanks. Enables condition monitoring and equipment health monitoring without replacing existing sensor infrastructure.
- One Service Water treatment as a service subscription model covering software and remote visualization, advanced analytics, maintenance service, assisted remote support, and real-time SMS and email notifications for all deployed Ginseng systems. Eliminates fragmented vendor relationships and reactive maintenance cycles common in traditional industrial water filtration system ownership.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 95% water recovery (vs. 80% for typical systems, 0% for no treatment)
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use 4Earth
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
4Earth technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature8 records
4Earth partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- Mercedes Benzflagship4Earth partnered with Mercedes Benz to implement water recycling solutions at their automotive manufacturing facility in South Carolina. The deployment tackled paint shop effluent—a difficult waste stream heavy in organics, oils, and dissolved solids. Utilizing synchronized AOP, UF, and RO process, the system treated wastewater to premium cooling tower makeup standards, achieving over 99% removal of suspended solids, oils, and grease.
- Cox Enterprisesflagship4Earth partnered with Cox Enterprises (including Cox Manheim operations) to transform industrial fleet washing from a drain on resources into a closed-loop asset. At the Nashville, Tennessee facility, the Ginseng system was deployed to tackle high-volume wash effluent with particulates, road grime, and surfactants, returning treated water directly to wash lines with ~70% water recovery.
- Siemenscore4Earth worked with Siemens to implement water recycling solutions for industrial and critical infrastructure sectors. The partnership is part of 4Earth's strategy to deploy modular water treatment technology for reuse across various industrial applications.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
4Earth competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Metawater: Japanese water treatment company providing ceramic membrane filtration systems and packaged water reuse plants for municipal and industrial customers. Comparable as a global supplier of ceramic membrane-based modular water reuse systems with overlapping target customers in industrial water recycling.
- Pall Water: Industrial water treatment company offering packaged treatment systems, membrane bioreactors, and reuse solutions across multiple verticals. Comparable as a packaged industrial water treatment provider serving overlapping customer segments in F&B, chemical, and municipal markets.
- Xylem (Evoqua): Global water technology company providing industrial water treatment, reuse, and wastewater solutions following the Evoqua acquisition. Directly comparable as it serves the same industrial and municipal water treatment customers across automotive, chemical, F&B, and municipal segments, with overlapping product lines in UF, RO, and packaged treatment systems.
- Veolia Water Technologies: Global water treatment major offering industrial water reuse, ZLD, and process water solutions through its Water Technologies division. Comparable as it serves the same industrial water reuse market that 4Earth targets, though Veolia competes with a much broader portfolio of custom-engineered and packaged plants rather than modular containerized systems.
- Toray Membrane USA: Manufacturer of RO, NF, UF, and MBR membranes and membrane-based systems for industrial and municipal water reuse. Comparable as a major membrane technology supplier whose UF and RO products compete with elements of 4Earth's Ginseng Element (RO/GAC polishing) and core UF stack.
Direct peers
- LiqTech International: Manufacturer of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic UF membranes and membrane systems for industrial water treatment. Directly comparable as LiqTech supplies the same core SiC ceramic UF membrane technology that 4Earth's Ginseng systems are built around, competing on membrane durability and chemical resistance for industrial reuse applications.
- Fluence Corporation: Provider of decentralized, modular water and wastewater treatment solutions using containerized MABR and packaged plant technology. Directly comparable as Fluence sells pre-engineered, rapidly-deployable treatment systems to industrial and municipal customers — directly competing with 4Earth's Ginseng modular containerized platform.
- Cembrane: Danish manufacturer of SiC ceramic flat-sheet membranes for industrial water treatment. Directly comparable as Cembrane supplies the same silicon carbide ceramic UF membrane technology stack underpinning 4Earth's Ginseng system, representing both a potential competitor and a key technology reference point.
Emerging players
- NX Filtration: Provider of nanofiltration and membrane technologies for industrial water reuse and point-of-use applications. Comparable as an emerging membrane technology company targeting industrial water reuse markets with novel hollow-fiber NF membranes, representing a partial overlap with 4Earth's modular reuse offering.
- Aqua Membranes: Developer of printed spacer technology for spiral-wound RO/NF membranes targeting industrial water reuse and desalination. Comparable as a smaller, innovation-focused membrane company serving overlapping industrial reuse customers, though focused on RO/NF rather than UF.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
4Earth social profiles
Digital presence4Earth financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
4Earth leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
4Earth funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
4Earth M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about 4Earth
What does 4Earth do?
4Earth designs and manufactures modular, containerized water treatment systems (Ginseng family) built around ceramic flat sheet ultrafiltration (SiC) membrane technology, deployable in 20ft or 40ft containers within 8-12 weeks, and turns industrial wastewater into a reusable asset for cooling towers, irrigation, washdown, and production reuse. It also offers Thinking Factory, an industrial intelligence software platform with Factory Vision hardware that unifies sensor data across manufacturing facilities into a single real-time operational view for predictive maintenance and digital twin capabilities.
Is 4Earth a public or private company?
4Earth is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was 4Earth founded?
4Earth was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is 4Earth based?
4Earth is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does 4Earth make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Water Treatment Systems (Capital Sale) is the primary driver. The others are water Treatment Systems (Lease), one Service Subscription and ginseng Phantom Compact System.
Who are 4Earth's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Metawater, Pall Water, Xylem (Evoqua), Veolia Water Technologies and Toray Membrane USA. Direct peers are LiqTech International, Fluence Corporation and Cembrane. Emerging players are NX Filtration and Aqua Membranes.
Does 4Earth have an API?
No public API is recorded for 4Earth.
What industry is 4Earth in?
4Earth's product category is Industrial Water Treatment Systems. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUANAGAG, Industrial Water Reuse Utilities (ZLD/MLD & Process Water Recycling), with a secondary code of EUANAGAD, Advanced Treatment & Purification Utilities (MF/UF, RO, AOP, UV). Its NAICS code is 2213 and its SIC code is 4941.