🇸🇪 Adsorbi secures €1 million to build pilot plant

Adsorbi has raised €1M in funding from Metsä Spring, Chalmers Ventures, Jovitech Invest, and a grant from Sweden’s Innovation Agency for its cellulose-based air purification material. The capital will be used to construct and operate a pilot plant in Gothenburg, develop new products, and grow its customer base. Despite being only a three-year-old company, Adsorbi already has a growing customer base and industry collaborations.

“We joined Adsorbi’s journey 1.5 years ago. The company has achieved all the goals agreed upon at the time and even surprised us investors positively in a few areas. The plan for the company’s next phase was very logical, and we are excited to support its implementation. Their development of a pulp-based new product makes them particularly relevant to Metsä Group’s mission. With Adsorbi in our portfolio, we move closer to replacing fossil-based materials in everyday applications,” says Niklas von Weymarn, CEO of Metsä Spring.

In October 2024, the European Union (EU) approved the new Ambient Air Quality Directive. The directive prioritises public health by introducing stricter air quality standards for key pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide – all known to cause respiratory issues. The new limits, to be achieved by 2030, bring EU standards closer to the WHO air quality guidelines, pushing businesses into a race to find new air filtering solutions.

According to the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution killed over 3 million people in 2020. Many ailments, such as asthma, heart disease, and lung cancers, can be caused by bad air quality. As people in industrialised nations spend up to 80–90% of their time indoors, maintaining air quality is crucial to keeping people’s health intact.

Adsorbi’s high-performing material, derived from Nordic tree cellulose, is designed for targeted pollutant capture, including key nitrogen oxides like nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – major contributors to air pollution – as well as acids and aldehydes. Aldehydes are commonly found in cosmetics, perfumes, cleaning products, odourant dispensers, and grooming aids. This means Adsorbi’s patented material can be used wherever gaseous air pollutants are a problem – in air filters, products that remove odours, and in museums to protect artefacts and works of art.

Unlike the current market standard, which is activated carbon, Adsorbi’s material lasts longer, doesn’t release any hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) back into the air, is water and fire-resistant, and changes color to indicate when it needs to be replaced. Adsorbi is also a more energy-efficient alternative, generating around 50% lower CO2 emissions – 3.5 kg CO2 per kilogram of material – compared to activated carbon, which has an emission factor of 7.5 kg CO2 per kilogram of material.

“We’re grateful to our investors for their continued support. With the funding we will establish pilot production, a crucial step for scaling Adsorbi. Air pollutant control is needed in many markets, and we’re ready to offer a commercial solution that ensures the air we breathe is clean without extensive use of fossil-based materials,” says Hanna Johansson, CEO of Adsorbi.

Originally published on 28 January by Adsorbi.

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