Sweden’s Chromafora bags €22.5M from EIB to remove PFAS from water: Here’s how

Solna, Sweden-based Chromafora, an environmental technology company, announced that it has secured €22.5M in nondilutive financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB)

The Swedish company will use the loan to advance a technology for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS – from water.

The credit from the EIB, the European Union’s lending arm, will support Chromafora’s development and deployment of water-treatment units at sites across Europe between 2024 and 2028.

Chromafora: Specialising in environmental technology

Led by Johan Seijmer, Chromafora has unique patented and patent-pending water treatment technologies based on proprietary chemistry — SELPAXT and SELMEXT.

• SELMEXT: Targets the removal of heavy metals. The SELMEXT process also contributes to conserving critical raw materials by enabling the recovery and recycling of valuable metals, such as gold and other precious resources, from waste.
• SELPAXT: Eliminates both short- and long-chain PFAS substances from water streams. SELPAXT removes over 90 per cent of both long and, otherwise difficult-to-capture, short PFAS chains from water. The SELPAXT technology combines ultrafiltration with proprietary chemical processes, making it particularly well-suited for complex water streams with high PFAS concentrations.

Both technologies focus on removing contaminants while reducing waste through selectivity.

“The EIB loan is a fantastic verification of our technology, as well as an enabler for faster expansion in Europe,” says Chromafora CEO Johan Seijmer. “In addition to Sweden, we have already established units in Belgium and will soon establish in more European markets. In both these countries and the neighbouring ones, there is a high demand for treating wastewater from PFAS.”

The company has created portable water treatment systems that can be quickly set up. These systems are mainly for industrial customers, like landfill operators, in Belgium, Sweden, and other European countries.

 A brief about the European Investment Bank

The EIB finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives.

The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed a total of €88B in new financing for over 900 projects in 2023. These commitments are expected to mobilise around €320 billion in investment, supporting 400 000 companies and 5.4 million jobs.

The group signed nearly €3B in financing for 32 projects in Sweden last year, a record high, with more than three-quarters of these commitments channelled to climate action and environmental sustainability investments.

“This operation highlights our commitment to supporting clean-water technologies that benefit both the environment and public health,” says EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros. “Chromafora’s innovation addresses a critical challenge while contributing to Europe’s transition to sustainable water systems.”