Orbital Systems, a cleantech startup based in Malmö, recently raised SEK 170 Million (€ 17.8 Million) in its Series B round of funding. Investors include well-known names such as H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson and Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, as well as Nils Idoff and Stena Ventures, reports Veckans Affärer and TechCrunch.
This is the second round of funding for the startup, which previously received more than € 11.3M (SEK 113 m) in investments from Niklas Zennström and the af Jochnick family, among other investors. This latest round of financing brings the total amount raised to € 29M (SEK 290 million), the company shared in its press release.
The technology behind the so-called “Tesla of showers” was developed by founder and CEO Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, thanks to an academic collaboration between his alma mater Lund University and NASA’s Journey to Mars program, writes Fortune.
The closed-loop water filtration system aims to reduce water consumption by 90% and could result in more than € 1400 (SEK 14 000) in annual energy savings. Initially developed for showers in space, the technology could revolutionize how household appliances recycle water here on Earth. As founder and CEO Mehrdad Mahdjoubi points out:
“We developed some great technology for the NASA projects, but what the past two years have shown us is that the technology works just as well here as it does in space. For our next growth phase we’ll focus on getting Orbital showers into every home that wants to save money on both water and energy.”
The OECD estimates that 40% of the world’s domestic water consumption relates to showering, as noted in the press release. These are staggering figures, says Mahdjoubi.
“It seems insane that we’ve developed this tech for space travel without using the same efficiencies here on Earth.”
As climate change advances and water resources become scarce, clean technology companies like Orbital Systems will likely see increased growth as they develop innovative solutions. Headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, Orbital Systems is already expanding internationally with offices in northern California, Berlin, and Copenhagen.