PFAS-free battery firm bags fresh funding: 'Chemical crackdown is driving demand'

Swedish startup Westra Materials has raised €3.8m in fresh funding from Voima Ventures, Lotus Investment, Almi Invest, Navigare Ventures to expand production of its PFAS-free polymers and grow its team.

The company currently produces 9 tonnes of polymers a year at its site in Norrköping, Sweden. With the new investment, it plans to boost that capacity to 65 tonnes.

Cracking down on forever chemicals

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of more than 10,000 synthetic chemicals prized for their water, heat, and oil resistance. Found in everything from microchips and firefighting foam to food packaging and non-stick cookware, PFAS break down so slowly in nature they’ve earned the name “forever chemicals.”

Researchers have linked PFAS exposure to decreased fertility, birth defects, and various cancers. While the EU has proposed a phaseout, large chemical producers are lobbying Brussels to soften the restrictions.

“Many chemical companies are lobbying Brussels to water down the proposal,” says Westling. “They say there are no alternatives to these forever chemicals — but that’s just not true.”

From lab bench to business

Westra was founded in 2020 by Marc-Antoine Stoeckel and Simone Fabiano as a spin-off from Linköping University’s Laboratory of Organic Electronics. During their research, Fabiano and Stoeckel discovered a conductive polymer made from forestry byproducts – an alternative to PVDF, the PFAS-containing polymer used in most batteries today.

Polymers play a crucial role in batteries, acting as conductive binders that hold the active components together while moving electrical charges. Westra’s discovery offers a way to achieve this without PFAS.

“The crackdown on PFAS in Europe and globally is driving demand for safer alternatives,” says Westling. “Battery producers in Europe and Asia have shown great interest in our technology. They know a ban is coming and they want to get ahead of it.”

Growth plans

With fresh backing and growing interest from industry, Westra now aims to scale production and push its lab-born discovery into real-world applications.

Pontus Stråhlman, partner at Voima Ventures, says he thinks it's particularly promising that Westra has gained traction with large industrial companies.

“Industry seems genuinely interested in finding more eco-friendly alternatives to so-called ‘forever chemicals’,” says Stråhlman.