Porelio Raises €2.4 Million to Scale Advanced Materials that Recover Precious Metals and Remove PFAS

Porelio, an innovative startup developing novel materials that solve two of today’s most urgent environmental challenges: recovering critical metals for the circular economy, and removing persistent pollutants like PFAS from water, led by Dr. Rhea Machado, Javier Silva Mora, and Nikol Michailidou, has raised €2.4 million pre-seed funding round led by Faber (Portugal) with participation from Polytechnique Ventures (France), alongside Grupo Tecnológica (Spain) and better ventures (Germany). It follows €2.5 million in earlier non-dilutive public funding that supported the technology's development.

Addressing Critical Industrial and Environmental Challenges.

Porelio is developing technology to recover valuable metals such as platinum, gold, silver, palladium, and rhodium from industrial streams while removing persistent contaminants such as PFAS from water.

The company aims to overcome the limitations of conventional purification methods, including activated carbon and ion-exchange resins, by enabling more selective and efficient separation of both valuable and harmful substances.

Technology Ready for Scale-Up.

Porelio has developed a scalable manufacturing process for Functionalized Ordered Mesoporous Silicas (FOMS), advanced materials designed to selectively capture targeted molecules while allowing other substances to pass through.

Its patented continuous-flow production method manufactures FOMS up to 30 times faster than conventional processes under more sustainable conditions. The materials are also regenerable, enabling more cost-effective water and industrial effluent treatment.

Two High-Growth Markets.

Porelio is targeting two markets with a combined potential value of approximately €34 billion: metal recovery and PFAS removal.

Its technology has demonstrated the ability to capture palladium around six times faster than conventional adsorption methods, while also removing difficult-to-filter PFAS compounds such as TFA significantly more effectively than commercial activated carbon.

Both applications are powered by the same scalable manufacturing platform, enabling Porelio to address a broad range of industrial separation challenges.

From Proof-of-Concept to Industrial Scale.

The funding will help Porelio scale production of its FOMS materials from pilot volumes to industrial manufacturing while accelerating commercialization following successful proof-of-concept projects across Europe.

According to CEO Dr. Rhea Machado, the company's key breakthrough was developing a scalable manufacturing process that enables advanced separation materials to move from the laboratory into real-world industrial applications.

Investors Faber and Polytechnique Ventures highlighted Porelio's potential to improve critical metal recovery and industrial water treatment, supporting the company's transition from pilot projects to commercial deployment.