Aclarity, a water treatment technology company with a first-of-its-kind solution for eliminating harmful “forever chemicals” (PFAS) in water and wastewater, has closed a $3.3M Seed financing round to deploy their PFAS destruction technology.
PFAS, known scientifically as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are in the blood of 98% of Americans, are toxic, and are linked to cancers. These “forever chemicals” are widely used in a range of products including fabrics, firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, and coatings of food cartons, and do not degrade in the environment. With stricter regulations for PFAS discharge on the horizon, current disposal methods are becoming obsolete and are leaving on-site destruction as the only solution.
Orren Schneider, Chief Science Officer at Aclarity said, “Before Aclarity, the best the industry could do was remove PFAS compounds from water streams and transfer them to filter media to be tossed in the environment. We actually destroy these molecules turning them into harmless byproducts in a single process.”
Aclarity’s proprietary electrochemical process permanently destroys PFAS and other harmful chemicals instead of returning them back into the environment. This new, unique treatment method replaces standard PFAS disposal methods such as capturing for incineration, deep-well injection, and sending to landfill.
As the first to commercialize a cost-effective on-site PFAS destruction technology, Aclarity is well positioned to tap into a $30B+ market opportunity. Under the new Infrastructure Law, $10B alone have been allocated to monitor and treat PFAS across the country.
“We are building a world-class team to rid the world of PFAS and other harmful chemicals to increase public health and decrease cancer rates globally,” said Julie Bliss Mullen, CEO of Aclarity, who originally invented Aclarity’s technology to solve the PFAS problem.
Late 2021 marked the first commercial install of a multi-reactor Aclarity system on-site for a client. Investors and team members see this as a major milestone towards solving a multi-billion-dollar issue.
“Aclarity has the potential to solve the monumental global PFAS problem rather than just moving the responsibility around,” said Tom Ferguson, Managing Partner of Burnt Island Ventures. “Julie, Orren and the team have made remarkable progress, and we look forward to helping them accelerate in the months and years to come.”
Aclarity plans to double the size of the team this year, using the funds to deploy new installations, optimize system operations, and scale the system across industry verticals.
“Aclarity’s technology eliminates contamination even beyond PFAS, and we are confident the company will achieve historical impact,” said Jason Pontin, Partner at DCVC.