Acuva cleans up with $2.1m series A

Acuva Technologies, a Canada-based water purification technology developer spun out of University of British Columbia (UBC), attracted C$2.6m ($2.1m) in series A funding yesterday from assorted, unnamed angel investors.

Acuva has developed water purification technology to reduce the maintenance, electricity and environmental costs associated with mercury ultraviolet (UV) lamp-based treatments.

The system uses a composite filter to pick sediment from the water and activates carbon to sharpen its taste, before pushing the fluid into a chamber lit by UV LEDs that sterilises lingering bacteria and viruses.

Acuva currently sells its product to North American consumers seeking water purification at recreational lodgings such as boats, caravans and cottages. 

The capital will help expand Acuva’s manufacturing base and prepare additional products for release through overseas partners later in 2018.

Acuva was co-founded by Fariborz Taghipour, a professor who works with UV photoreactors in UBC’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, together with Manoj Singh, a graduate of the UBC Sauder School of Business.

The spinout closed an oversubscribed seed round at $850,000 in 2016 backed by Entrepreneurship@UBC Seed Fund, a philanthropic vehicle managed by the university’s accelerator.

BDC Capital, the investment arm of state-owned financial institution Business Development Bank of Canada, also took part in the 2016 round, as did a range of angel investors.

Todd Farrell, chairman of the Acuva board and president of Entrepreneurship@UBC, said: “Acuva is a great example of the success to be had from partnering university innovators with external entrepreneurs to bridge the innovation gap.”