Sequestro raises $150K seed to scale bio-based PFAS water treatment
What's the deal? Ann Arbor-based startup SequestroDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $150,000 in seed funding to develop a bio-based material that removes PFAS from contaminated water. Ann Arbor SPARKDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, announced in July 2026, with participation from the University of Michigan's MINTS/MUICF funds, Northern Michigan AngelsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and SPARK Michigan Angels.
What's the endgame? Sequestro is building a cellulose-based adsorbent, branded ArborSORB, made from renewable feedstocks such as wood residuals. The material aims to replace conventional filtration media, and the company says it can remove PFAS faster and more cheaply than current technologies. The funding will move the product from the lab to pilot-scale manufacturing and early customer validation.
Why now? PFAS are synthetic chemicals used widely in consumer and industrial products, and their persistence in the environment has raised public health concerns. Tightening regulations are driving demand for better water treatment.
Who's behind it? Sequestro was co-founded by Juergen Koller, a process chemist specializing in scaling specialty chemical manufacturing, and Anne McNeil, a University of Michigan professor who invented the core technology.
Koller said the investment would help move ArborSORB "into real-world applications," adding that the technology is "built from renewable, bio-based materials designed to deliver both high performance and long-term sustainability."
Mike Flanagan, vice president of Capital Programs at Ann Arbor SPARK, called PFAS contamination "one of the most pressing environmental challenges facing communities today." He said Sequestro is "translating promising University of Michigan research into a practical solution with significant commercial potential."
What's next? Sequestro plans to focus first on environmental remediation firms and filtration manufacturers, then expand into industrial effluent treatment and municipal drinking water providers.
The signal: University research is increasingly spinning out into commercial ventures aimed at environmental cleanup, with local investors backing early-stage teams positioned for stricter regulatory tailwinds.
Read more: Great Lakes Wire
