Finnish startup Sofi Filtration gets €3 million to innovate how industries use (and re-use) water

Sofi Filtration, a Finnish tech company innovating industrial water usage, has closed a €3 million funding round led by Swiss firm Emerald Technology Ventures and joined by Voima Ventures. This is the first investment of Emerald’s recently announced $100 million water impact fund, which has Temasek as a cornerstone investor.

The Nordic company has been designing and developing state-of-the-art liquid filtration technology since its start in 2011. The product attracting the new investment is Sofi Filter, an automatic, self-cleaning microfiltration system.

Helge Daebel, a partner at Emerald, explains that Sofi Filter is “a unique, rugged, low-touch and very efficient filtration system for several large industrial markets” that are facing ever stricter environmental regulations. “Examples are upstream mining and oil & gas production processes, where the amount of water needed per unit of materials extracted increases, while fresh water availability decreases,” he says.

Jussi Sainiemi, partner at Voima Ventures, adds: “Water availability and material scarcity will be major global challenges for the coming decades. Recycling and resource efficiency are no longer just cost items but also create opportunities for competitive advantage.”

As part of the deal, Daebel is joining the startup’s board. Based in Espoo, the company has previously raised venture capital from Loudspring and grant funding from the EU’s Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME), both back in 2015.

CEO Ville Hakala says the new round will help the team “grow our business to the technology’s full potential.”

Taxonomy

• Produced Water Treatment
• Filters
• Filtration Solutions
• Produced Water