Swedish air purification material startup secures €360,000 in seed funding

Swedish startup Adsorbi AB has secured €360,000 in seed funding from Metsä Spring, Chalmers Ventures and Jovitech Invest for its patented, cellulose-based air purification material that can be used in air filters and odour removal products.

The funds 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.

Adsorbi’s material is made from a renewable resource, wood harvested from Nordic forests, and has a low environmental impact and long product lifetime. The material captures and stores air pollutants that can cause problems in respiratory systems. Unlike activated carbon, it doesn’t release any VOCs back into the air.

Adsorbi was founded in 2022 from research in applied chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Hanna Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Adsorbi.

“We want to thank Chalmers Ventures for their continued support of our mission, as well as warmly welcome new investors Metsä Spring and Jovitech Invest,” says Hanna Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Adsorbi. “Now 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.”

This is Metsä Spring’s first Swedish startup investment and will be an addition to its wood-based innovation portfolio.

“We are very excited to invest in Adsorbi, which has a diverse and solid research background and business-minded founding team. It is also working on a product made out of pulp, which makes Adsorbi of particular interest for Metsä Group. With Adsorbi in our portfolio, we are yet another step closer to removing fossil-based materials from everyday products,” says Niklas von Weymarn, CEO of Metsä Spring.