Gradiant Industrial Water Treatment & SmartOps AI

Gradiant is a water technology company spun out of MIT by Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan. It designs, builds and operates complete industrial water systems, from intake to discharge, for semiconductor fabs, data centres, energy, pharmaceutical, mining, food and beverage and chemical producers. It lists headquarters in Boston, Houston, Singapore and Abu Dhabi and has about 1,200 employees.

The portfolio combines patented processes: Counterflow Reverse Osmosis and Semi-Batch RO for very high recovery and brine concentration, Carrier Gas Extraction thermal desalination, Selective Contaminant Extraction, Bio Infinity biological treatment and Free Radical Oxidation for non-biodegradable organics, supported by CURE treatment chemicals. Delivered plants cover ultrapure water, wastewater recycling, minimal and zero liquid discharge, resource recovery and PFAS removal, and are run through SmartOps, an AI layer that monitors, predicts and controls plant operation.

• Counterflow RO (CFRO): reverse osmosis variant for very high recovery and brine concentration.
• Carrier Gas Extraction: thermal humidification-dehumidification process with patented bubble columns for difficult brines.
• Free Radical Oxidation: advanced oxidation to remove TOC and non-biodegradable organics.
• MLD and ZLD systems: minimal and zero liquid discharge plants with resource recovery.
• Ultrapure water and PFAS: UPW for chip fabs and ForeverGone solutions for PFAS and emerging contaminants.
• SmartOps AI: digital platform that monitors, predicts and controls treatment plant operation.

Semiconductor and electronics investors in northern Vietnam can source ultrapure water and wastewater recycling plants with high recovery. Data centre developers can treat cooling tower blowdown for reuse. Textile, chemical and battery material plants can adopt ZLD to meet discharge limits in water-stressed industrial parks.

High-recovery RO lets factories and data centres reuse more water and shrink brine discharge and disposal costs; the company cites up to 99% recovery when CFRO is combined with SmartOps. One provider covers design, construction, chemicals and long-term operation. Across its installed base Gradiant reports 6.5 billion litres of freshwater withdrawals reduced and 8.5 billion litres of wastewater renewed.

Semiconductor fabs and AI data centres consume large volumes of ultrapure and cooling water, and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Malaysia, is attracting new fabs, electronics plants and data centres. Water scarcity, stricter discharge rules and corporate water targets push operators towards high-recovery recycling and zero liquid discharge.

Founded at MIT by Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan; about 1,200 employees from 38 nationalities. Headquarters are listed in Boston, Houston, Singapore (Global Innovation Center) and Abu Dhabi, with regional offices including Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hsinchu and Shanghai. In May 2026 it raised a Series E at a USD 2 billion valuation led by Safar Partners and Hostplus.