In 2015, Imperial student Henrik Hagemann was researching how molecular chemistry could be used to remove pollutants from water. He saw the potential of his work to reduce pollution at scale, and thought about how it might grow. But to get his idea off the ground, he needed space to grow - and financial backing.
With help from Imperial’s network of experts, Henrik moved into White City’s Incubator. Our shared lab facilities and equipment gave him the chance to prove his concept, and win a major €1.4 million grant from the Horizon 2020 programme. He called the new company Puraffinity.
As the firm grew, Henrik stayed in White City to take the idea from a lab experiment to a commercial success. He hired graduates from Imperial, and moved from the Incubator into our Scale Space. The business is now venture capital funded, and growing every year.