Freshwater Advisors

What Freshwater Advisors does

Freshwater Advisors is a Chicago-based innovation consultancy and venture catalyst firm founded in 2013 by David Weinstein. The company operates a professional services model delivering five core service lines to enterprise clients: Startup Scouting (finding early-stage companies aligned with client strategic interests and facilitating structured engagements through private demo days), Corporate Innovation Program Development & Management (administering impact-driven and impact-investing initiatives), Startup Landscape Assessment (research and reporting on emerging players by vertical), Partnership Development & Due Diligence Advisory Services (managing corporate-startup portfolio relationships and conducting diligence), and Venture Catalyst Services (strategic advisory for emerging tech companies on growth, capital raising, and partnerships). Freshwater does not develop proprietary technology products - its delivery model relies on a lean core team supplemented by a 15+ member advisory board with backgrounds at CME Group, Caterpillar, Exelon, and Sun Life.

The firm serves Fortune 500 corporations, impact-driven organizations, early-stage startups, and public-sector entities. Anchor clients and partnerships include Amazon Web Services (delivery partner on the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator and AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator) and Exelon Corporation (development and administration of the 10-year, $20 million Climate Change Investment Initiative, or 2c2i, which has made over 25 investments in its first four years). Additional ecosystem partnerships include the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition, Clean Energy Trust, and Public Spend Forum.

Freshwater operates from three U.S. offices - Chicago, IL (headquarters), Park City, UT, and Los Angeles, CA - and is privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds. Pricing is quote-based on custom enterprise engagements rather than publicly disclosed. The company describes itself as a national innovation consultancy, although some accelerator programs draw global startup applicant pools (218 applications from 38 countries for one AWS cohort). Its revenue mechanics are anchored by multi-year program administration contracts, accelerator delivery fees, and bespoke advisory engagements rather than recurring SaaS or per-transaction pricing.

Name

Freshwater Advisors

Legal name

Freshwater Advisors

Website

https://freshwateradvisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Freshwater Advisors is a Chicago-based innovation consultancy and venture catalyst founded in 2013 that connects Fortune 500 corporations with early-stage startups through structured scouting, accelerator delivery, and program management services. It anchors its practice around flagship partnerships including AWS accelerators and Exelon's 10-year, $20 million Climate Change Investment Initiative.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Consulting

NAICS

Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategy Advisory (BPAHADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Capital Raising Advisory (Debt/Equity/Private Capital) (BPAHADAG), Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory (BPAHAFAC)

Keywords

• Innovation consulting services
• Venture catalyst advisory
• Startup scouting
• Corporate innovation programs
• Partnership development

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Innovation Scouting Services: Core offering: finding highly relevant early stage companies and technologies that align with the strategic interests of clients, and helping them form structured engagements through private demo days.
2. Corporate Innovation Program Development & Management: Program development, management, and administration for corporate 'impact' driven initiatives including impact investing programs. Freshwater augments internal resources and utilizes scouting resources to bring programs to market.
3. Startup Landscape Assessment: Best practices research on relevant technology areas with high-level insights and reports on emerging players in different industry verticals.
4. Partnership Development & Due Diligence Advisory: Tracking, operational support, and relationship management between corporations and their portfolio of startup companies. Development of formal tools to structure pilot/prototype engagements. Due diligence on investment opportunities for strategic partnerships.
5. Venture Catalyst Services: Advisory services for select startups, corporate innovation teams, and emerging technology companies in areas: market/revenue growth, capital raising strategies, advisory/board development, competitive market analysis, talent acquisition, global market expansion, and strategic partnerships.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Freshwater Advisors is an innovation consultancy and venture catalyst that provides startup scouting, corporate innovation program development and management, startup landscape assessment, partnership development and due diligence advisory, and venture catalyst services. The firm connects Fortune 500 corporations with early-stage startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems through structured demo days, impact investing program administration, and strategic advisory engagements focused primarily on sustainability, clean energy, and climate solutions.

Product overview

Freshwater Advisors offers a portfolio of professional consulting and advisory services as a single, unified offering rather than a software platform. The core offering includes Startup Scouting (finding early-stage companies aligned with client strategic interests through private demo days), Corporate Innovation Program Development & Management (handling impact-driven initiative administration), Startup Landscape Assessment (research and reports on emerging players), Partnership Development & Due Diligence Advisory Services (relationship management and due diligence), and Venture Catalyst Services (strategic advisory for startups and emerging tech companies on growth, capital raising, and partnerships). These services work together as an integrated consultancy engagement model rather than discrete product modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Startup Scouting Core innovation scouting service that finds highly relevant early-stage companies and technologies aligning with client strategic interests, facilitating structured engagements through private demo days. Designed for Fortune 500 corporations and large public sector organizations seeking to connect with startups.
• Corporate Innovation Program Development & Management Program development, management, and administration for corporate impact-driven initiatives, including impact investing programs. Utilizes scouting resources and technologies to bring programs to market and de-risk their management and execution.
• Startup Landscape Assessment Best practices research on relevant technology areas with high-level insights and reports on emerging players in different industry verticals, helping clients understand the startup ecosystem.
• Partnership Development & Due Diligence Advisory Services Tracking, operational support, and relationship management between corporations and their portfolio of startup companies. Development of formal tools to structure pilot/prototype engagements and due diligence on investment opportunities for strategic partnerships.
• Venture Catalyst Services Strategic advisory services for select startups, corporate innovation teams, and emerging technology companies in areas including market/revenue growth, capital raising strategies, advisory/board development, competitive market analysis, talent acquisition, global market expansion, and strategic partnerships.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped make introductions with Customers, Large Corporations and Investors that actually invested
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered secondary, core/flagship and minor.

• Public Spend ForumsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2022Jointly selected startups for the AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator program. Public Spend Forum works with governments worldwide on public procurement frameworks.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)core/flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2021Partnership to deliver the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator and AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator. Freshwater serves as delivery partner, helping select startups and facilitating partnerships with large corporations and public sector entities around sustainability modalities.
• Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC)core/flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 July 2020Partnership to develop and administer Exelon's 10-year, $20 million Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i). The initiative supports startups creating bold climate solutions with potential wide-scale impact. Freshwater helps identify promising early-stage companies and manage the program, which has made over 25 investments in 4 years.
• Facedrive Inc. (TSXV: FD)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 5 December 2019Strategic Service Advisory Agreement to assist Facedrive in sourcing and developing environmentally focused partnerships to support growth initiatives specifically in the United States.
• Illinois Science & Technology CoalitionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2016Partnership for Illinois Corporate-Startup Challenge - connecting Fortune 1000 corporations with startup and emerging growth companies through pilots, contracts, strategic partnerships, investments, and mentorship.
• Clean Energy TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 June 2016Jointly coordinated and produced the Cleantech Innovation Bridge program, connecting industry giants like Archer Daniels Midland, American Electric Power, and Nicor Gas with energy innovations from startups.
• Startup InstituteminorOthers · 1 June 2016Partnership to start a scholarship for minority women in Chicago startups. Freshwater Advisors co-sponsored a $3,000 scholarship.
• Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Developed the Illinois Corporate-Startup Challenge, a national award-winning program that connects global corporations with the entrepreneurial community. Freshwater served as consultant for the program.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Plug and Play Tech Center: Global corporate innovation and accelerator platform running vertical-specific programs with Fortune 500 partners; directly comparable to Freshwater's accelerator delivery and corporate-startup matching model.
• Founders Factory: Corporate venture builder that designs and operates accelerator and venture studio programs with large enterprises; highly comparable venture catalyst and corporate-startup matching model to Freshwater.
• MassChallenge: Global non-equity accelerator running industry-vertical programs (including energy and sustainability) with corporate and government partners; comparable as a competing accelerator operator for enterprise-sponsored cohorts.
• Techstars: Global accelerator network operating industry-vertical programs with corporate partners; competes for the same corporate-sponsored accelerator mandates and startup pipeline as Freshwater.
• High Alpha: Indianapolis-based venture studio and corporate innovation firm that designs and runs B2B SaaS studios and enterprise partnerships; closely comparable as a boutique corporate-startup venture builder.
• gener8tor: National accelerator and venture fund operator running cohort-based programs with corporate partners; comparable as a competing operator of structured accelerator engagements for startups and corporations.
• Elemental Excelerator: Hawaii-based sustainability and climate-tech accelerator that deploys non-dilutive capital and partners startups with large corporates and utilities; directly comparable in climate/clean-energy accelerator delivery.
• Match-Maker Ventures: Innovation firm that connects corporates with curated startup ecosystems through scouting, demo days, and accelerator-style programs; closely comparable to Freshwater's core scouting and engagement services.
• Clean Energy Trust: Midwest cleantech accelerator that is itself a joint delivery partner with Freshwater on the Cleantech Innovation Bridge; competes and collaborates in the same clean-energy startup-corporate connector niche.

Others

• 1871: Chicago tech hub originally founded by Freshwater's CEO as the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center; not a direct competitor but an adjacent ecosystem player with strong overlap in Chicago corporate-startup engagement.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/freshwaterdw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freshwater-advisors

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Freshwater Advisors