Rensair raises $7m to establish clean air as a human right

Air purification specialist Rensair has completed a Series A financing round led by Hoxton Ventures. The company – whose over 800 customers include CBRE, Disney, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, SNCF, and the UK National Health Service (NHS) – will use the funding to expand its presence across the world, introduce a broader product portfolio with IoT connectivity, and invest in marketing outreach.

Rensair, whose first year’s sales were in the millions, is also announcing that it has acquired the air filtration business of AirLabs, a UK and Denmark-based air cleaning and monitoring company. The acquisition brings complementary filtration and IoT technologies, as well as established products such as the compact AirBubbl that supplies purified air to personal spaces and can be fitted to car seat headrests or mounted in driver cabins.

“The pandemic has taught us that we cannot take air quality for granted, but airborne disease transmission is not the only reason to care about air quality”, said Christian Hendriksen, Co-founder and CEO at Rensair. “The proliferation of environmental pollutants, a rise in drug-resistant bacteria, and the newly identified threat of airborne microplastics are all reasons to improve Indoor Air Quality.”

Founded in May 2020 by Danish twins Christian and Frederik Hendriksen, Rensair is headquartered in London with operations in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia. The company’s unique combination of HEPA and UVC technology was originally proven in the Scandinavian healthcare sector and refined over two decades. Applications now extend across all industries, from hospitals, care homes, dental practices and offices, to gyms, entertainment venues and retail outlets.

“Following the latest guidelines from the WHO and governments around the world, commercial buildings are under-ventilated. The same applies in healthcare facilities. New innovative solutions are required to bridge this gap and, with the fundraise and Airlabs asset acquisition completed, Rensair is uniquely positioned to solve this problem.”

Heightened awareness of the benefits of Indoor Air Quality have already resulted in a number of high profile initiatives around the world. These include: the White House’s ‘Clean Air in Buildings Challenge’; the Belgian government’s legislative framework to govern indoor air quality in public spaces; and the UK Building Engineering Services Association’s campaign to turn healthcare buildings into safe havens. Like clean water from the tap, clean air is now seen as a human right.

“Clean air is of course a defence mechanism against sick building syndrome and absenteeism, but it’s much more than that”, said Frederik Hendriksen, Co-founder and US CEO at Rensair. “It’s been proven to boost productivity and learning and, in one Harvard study, resulted in a 61% increase in cognitive scores. The ROI on Indoor Air Quality is far reaching.”

Hussein Kanji, Partner at Hoxton Ventures, said: “Covid has hastened many organisations to proactively address indoor air quality issues to aid in a return to normalcy. Rensair is well positioned to meet the demands for this growing market.”