Swiss start-up wins Aquatech Innovation Forum PFAS pitch

Swiss start-up Oxyle won the Aquatech Innovation Forum Digital Derby which was held during Aquatech Amsterdam. Oxyle beat two competitor technologies after its CEO Dr Fajer Mushtaq pitched the company's Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) solutions to a panel of experts.

Uniting key stakeholders

Held as part of Aquatech Amsterdam, the Innovation Forum united key stakeholders, from founders and entrepreneurs to climate and water investment funds and utility innovations managers.

The main focus of the day was 'Aligning action to scale water innovations' with an engaging programme of panel discussions designed to unite, energise and connect participants in tackling pressing water challenges.

Pitching to solve the PFAS problem

The PFAS Digital Derby session brought together three companies to pitch to a panel of experts in using a 'Dragon's Den' style format. The three participating start-ups - Oxyle, Puraffinity and Aquagga – had five minutes to convince the panel that their solution to PFAS was worthy of investment.

The expert judging panel from CDM Smith, Imagine H2O and BlueTech Research then quizzed the innovators before the audience voted for their overall winner.

Oxyle's Dr Fajer Mushtaq spoke first highlighting the company's containerised solution which not only destroys PFAS, but produces treated water that is cleaner than bottled water. It can be adapted to suit any users needs.

Next to take the stage was Dhileep Sivan from Aquagga who focused on cost and energy savings as well the small footprint of the company's PFAS destruction solution. Henrik Hagemann from Puraffinity was the last to take the stage. His company's solution was the only one not to destroy PFAS, instead it allows for reuse rather than destruction.

The problem with PFAS

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are becoming a growing concern in the water industry. A recent report revealed the cost of cleaning up forever chemical pollution could reach more than €1.9 trillion across the UK and Europe over a 20-year period.

In February 2023, the Forever Pollution Project revealed the extent of PFAS contamination across Europe, locating nearly 23,000 sites contaminated by PFAS and 21,500 sites of presumptive contamination on an interactive map. France and Denmark are the only two countries currently with laws in place to ban the use of PFAS.

Oxyle recently announced a €14.6 million funding round to scale its breakthrough solution to destroy PFAS from wastewater following a €2.7 million pre-seed round in 2022.

Dr Fajer Mushtaq, co-founder and CEO of Oxyle, told Aquatech Online: "Solving a challenge like PFAS will require more than just one company or one breakthrough solution. It was an honour to pitch alongside Aquagga and Puraffinity, and even more so to have them in the fight with us against PFAS contamination."

The event for water-tech founders

This was the fourth edition of the Innovation Forum with 'Accelerator partners' including ImagineH2O, CLEAN and The European Water Tech Accelerator, as well as knowledge partner, BlueTech Research. Sponsors also included Xylem, Rabobank, NX Filtration, as well as Sudoc and Aquacycl for the following evening called 'F**K Up Nights' where there was a focus on failures and the importance of making mistakes during the innovation journey.

Tom Freyberg, content and strategic partnerships director at Aquatech, told Aquatech Online: "We want to position the Innovation Forum as the main event in Europe for water-tech founders to unite, connect, engage and come away energised to scale their businesses. This year event was a great success and congratulations to Fajer and her team at Oxyle for winning the PFAS pitch competition – innovation in this area is urgently and critically needed."