Start-up secure funding to develop bio-based air purification technology

Swedish startup Adsorbi has secured €360,000 in seed funding for a cellulose-based air purification material that can be used in air filters and odour removal products.

Adsorbi was founded last year by a team out of  Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their research within applied chemistry has been focused on developing efficient bio-based materials for air purification and odour removal.

The team approached the issue of air purification by recognising that the current industry standard for air purification – activated carbon – has many drawbacks: its production has a negative impact on the environment, it has a short life cycle and it performs poorly in removing health hazardous volatile organic compounds.

The material they have developed, they claim, answers this need. It is flexible, has a longer lifetime, and is more energy efficient. And unlike activated carbon, it doesn’t release any VOCs back into the air.

The material is bio-based, its original raw material is sustainably harvested from the Nordic forests, and it has a wide range of applications. 

Above and beyond air purification, Adsorbi are keen to emphasise its utility to the odour removal industry, citing shoes, bags, and cars as examples of its potential applications. 

They are also to target the technology at museums and art galleries, where it can protect artefacts from air pollutants as well as removing the harmful particles that the artwork itself might emit.

Adsorbi say the funding – from Metsä Spring, Chalmers Ventures, and Jovitech Invest – will be used to continue studying product application possibilities and ramp up sales in odour removal and art conservation, while concentrating on product development and field testing with air filter companies.

Co-founder and CEO of Adsorbi, Hanna Johansson said: ‘We have a dream team of investors who understand deep tech, material startups, as well as novel usage cases for cellulose. Our patented material can be used wherever air pollutants are a problem – in air filters, products that remove bad odours, and in museums to protect works of art. This means we can tackle several significant markets with one unique material.’