Puraffinity, which develops precision technology for the removal of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ across multiple water treatment applications, has won a $250,000 award from the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing.

In addition to the financial award, Puraffinity receives a year long collaboration with the Institute for Sustainable Investing which will help them grow and scale up their innovative solution.

Puraffinity, which is tackling the human health and environmental challenges of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has developed a suite of adsorbent materials, exhibiting high selectivity towards diverse PFAS compounds. These are adaptable for multiple applications. The company has a goal to provide one billion people with PFAS-safe water by 2030'.

“To tackle complex sustainability challenges, we need to advance innovative solutions,” said Jessica Alsford, Morgan Stanley Chief Sustainability Officer and CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Investing. “Puraffinity’s novel low-carbon green chemistry approach to dealing with ‘forever chemical’ contaminants allows for PFAS capture and the reusing of their adsorbent material.”

The Morgan Stanley award follows Puraffinity’s recent success raising $13.9m in Series A funding. Both the fundraise and the award win will enable the company to scale up its operations, transitioning from a R&D focused organisation to being a full commercial entity. The company also plans to grow its organisational structure, going from 25 to 40 employees by the end of 2024.”

“Aligning ourselves with tier 1 companies like Morgan Stanley will be a key accelerant of our mission towards addressing the PFAS challenge,” said Puraffinity CEO Henrik Hagemann.  “Beyond the positive impact of securing the award, we are thrilled about the mentorship within the programme and the opportunity to tap into the Collaborative to scale up our solutions that tackles one of the critical challenges of our time.”

The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Solutions Collaborative is aimed at identifying and scaling transformative innovations addressing critical sustainability challenges.  The Institute evaluated many organisations which are creating new systemic solutions to various sustainability challenges. Puraffinity, was one of only five award winners.