Helios Innovations AB, a Swedish cleantech company, has raised €1.28 million (SEK 14.2 million) from venture investor BackingMinds to expand its industrial wastewater and PFAS treatment operations. The company, founded by Jonatan Persson and Johanna Gillberg, has reported a 170% revenue increase over the past year and currently treats highly contaminated wastewater for Nordic pharmaceutical and industrial companies. Helios’ on-site containerized technology removes heavy metals, oil residues, and persistent chemicals, reducing the need for water transport. The funding will support production scaling and expansion into other European markets.
Together with their team, Jonatan and Johanna have developed a unique on-site treatment technology that removes heavy metals, oil sludge, and some of the most persistent industrial chemicals. The process is deployed in containerized units directly at customer facilities, avoiding the need to transport vast volumes of contaminated water, leading to substantial cost reductions and significant CO₂ savings.
Industrial wastewater is notoriously difficult and costly to manage. The most contaminated streams, often composed of up to 98% water, cannot be discharged and must instead be sent for destruction, leading to significant expenses and climate emissions from transport. As regulations tighten at both national and EU levels, industries have long lacked effective solutions for handling their most challenging wastewater stream – until now.
BackingMinds has deep dived into the field of wastewater treatment with particular focus on heavy metals and PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” that do not degrade in nature and are linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and weakened immune function. In this area, Helios has already taken a leading role treating around 70% of all firefighting foam and PFAS-contaminated water in Sweden at Europe’s first commercial facility for concentrating high-PFAS wastewater streams.
“We have followed Helios for several years and are impressed by the team, their strong growth, and their ability to find product-market fit across diverse water treatment solutions. Helios is addressing one of the defining environmental challenges of our time with a simple, cost-effective, and scalable solution. The potential is immense, and this is exactly the type of company we want to back,” says Lisen Oliw, Investment Partner at BackingMinds.
Helios currently has a strong order pipeline. The investment will enable the company to scale production, accelerate international expansion, and establish its technology as a new global standard for industrial water treatment.
“Our goal is to empower industries to treat their wastewater on-site while tackling one of today’s greatest environmental challenges. With BackingMinds’ investment and expertise, we can accelerate our journey in Sweden and across Europe,” says Jonatan Persson, CEO and Founder of Helios Innovations.
The company recently launched operations in Norway and is now expanding into Denmark and the broader European market. Looking ahead, Helios is also targeting treatment of liquid waste from oil and glycol, such as from airports and large vessels.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/helios-innovations-raises-e1-28-million/
