This post is sponsored by Molekule
Innovative air purifier company Molekule has announced that it has secured $58 million in Series C funding. This third round of funding for the breakthrough clean air technology company was led by RPS Ventures and Founder’s Circle Capital. Other investors, including Foundry Group, Uncork Capital, TransLink Capital, Crosslink Capital, and Inventec Appliances Corp (IAC), also participated. In 2017, Molekule raised $10.1 million through Series A funding led by Crosslink Capital. The company raised $25 million in Series B funding, led by Foundry Group, in November 2018. This brings the total of Molekule’s funding to $96.4 million. The air purifying industry has achieved some innovation since HEPA filtration was established in the 1940s, but nothing truly revolutionary, making the industry ripe for change. The latest round of funding proves investor confidence in the San Francisco-based company’s transformative air-purifying PECO technology.
Dr. Yogi Goswami, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Molekule has been developing the purifier’s patented Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (PECO) technology through more than 20 years of rigorous scientific research. As a professor and director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida, Goswami initially began his research for this innovative technology in an effort to find an effective solution for his son’s asthma and allergies. Molekule’s first large air purifier, the Molekule Air, launched in 2017 and is designed to filter the air effectively in rooms up to 600 square feet. In October 2019, the company launched the Molekule Air Mini, an air purifier that utilizes the same breakthrough PECO technology but is designed for smaller rooms of up to 250 square feet.
In April 2020, Molekule released a new product, the Air Mini+, which uses the same PECO technology to purify the air in rooms up to 250 square feet. What sets the Air Mini+ apart are the new features included: particle sensing and Auto Protect mode. The particle sensor in Air Mini+ is designed to give you a window into the air quality of the room it’s operating in, to help maintain clean air. Auto Protect uses the particle sensor to take automatic readings of the air in front of it and adjusts fan speed for optimal air purification in the room in which it’s running.
Molekule, originally a direct-to-consumer company, has recently made its home products line available for sale on Amazon as part of its mission to make its groundbreaking air purifier technology more accessible to consumers. The new funding will enable the company to make its products more widely available to consumers in other channels as well.
A Review of Molekule’s Clean Air Technology
According to the American Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air Report, 43.3 percent of the U.S. population lives in counties that have unhealthy ozone levels and particle pollution. The report found that 141.1 million Americans are exposed to unhealthy air, an increase from the 2018 and 2017 reports. The United Nations has stated that air pollution is the most significant environmental health risk of our time, causing one in nine deaths. As air quality conditions continue to worsen globally, Molekule aims to revolutionize the world’s air purification methods through its patented PECO technology.
Most air purifiers only trap airborne pollutants. The PECO-Filters found in Molekule air purifiers, however, don’t just collect pollutants. PECO technology can destroy particles that are 1,000 times smaller than what HEPA filter standards are designed to test for.
The Molekule Air contains two filters: a Pre-Filter and a PECO-Filter. The Pre-Filter is designed to filter larger pollutants such as mold spores and pollen, while the nanocatalyst-coated surface of the PECO-Filter destroys pollutants. Molekule Air Mini and Air Mini+ also use a nanocatalyst coated surface, but as part of a single integrated filter. A low-energy UV-A light shines onto the coated filter, which then initiates an oxidation reaction. This reaction produces free radicals on the surface of the filter, which breaks down tiny pollutants like VOCs as they pass through. Molekule’s innovative PECO technology breaks down even the smallest irritants and does so without producing any harmful ozone or other byproducts.
Funding the Future of Molekule
Molekule plans to use its newly acquired funding to focus on innovative technology, accelerate growth in new channels, and continue expanding its product offering. At launch in 2017, Molekule was a direct-to-consumer company, as that was the fastest way to get the new technology into consumer hands. People in search of an effective air purifying solution proved that demand for Molekule’s new PECO filtration was high. Now, the company has diversified and begun selling its Molekule Air Air Mini, and Air Mini+ purifiers on Amazon. It hopes to use the latest round of funding to expand the accessibility of its products into other channels. The company plans to continue to scale and open up new markets as demand for a more effective and innovative air purifying solution rises. In 2019, the company opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Tampa, Florida.
Molekule aims to provide more than just a direct-to-consumer, residential device. In the long run, Molekule hopes to become an integral part of the infrastructure, particularly for new and renovated buildings. Molekule’s goal is to enter the commercial sphere and become the standard for indoor air quality in all spaces. According to Samantha Wang, founding partner at RPS Ventures, air purifiers are one of the fastest-growing markets, and Molekule is innovating in that space like no other company.
As air quality continues to worsen globally, demand for Molekule’s unique and innovative PECO air purifiers will continue to grow, and Molekule hopes to meet that rising demand. Wildfires, worsening air pollution, and a heating climate will continue to deteriorate the world’s air quality. It’s clear, therefore, that air pollution is a growing global challenge. Molekule seeks to revolutionize the way we tackle air quality concerns and is dedicated to fighting for clean air for all.
