Turbine Capital is investing SEK 2.5 million in LivingFilters Malmö AB as part of a SEK 4.6 million pre-seed round alongside experienced business angels. The funds will support a pilot project and the development of two initial products: biosensor probes for rapid contaminant detection and selective filter components for water treatment plants.
Current water treatment technologies (activated carbon, ozonation, membrane filtration) are all non-selective and energy-intensive. They are hard to reconfigure as the list of regulated contaminants grows.
Two EU directives are now forcing action: the Drinking Water Directive requires PFAS monitoring from January 2026, and the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive mandates a fourth treatment step for pharmaceuticals and micropollutants, with large plants required to comply by 2033. Svenskt Vatten estimates the Swedish water sector will require SEK 560 billion in investment by 2040; the European figure is €250–450 billion.
LivingFilters uses AI to design protein binders from scratch, creating molecular tools that bind to a single target contaminant with high precision. A new binder can be computationally initiated within hours and experimentally validated within a couple of weeks.
The platform builds on breakthroughs recognised by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computational protein design.
LivingFilters’ co-founder and Chief Science Officer Amijai Saragovi conducted his postdoctoral research at the Baker Lab, Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, the world’s leading group in computational protein design. He now leads his own protein design group at Kemicentrum, Lund University.
Mandatory compliance deadlines have converted a diffuse environmental problem into a funded procurement market. LivingFilters combines unique expertise acquired through advanced training and research at the world-leading Baker Lab for computational protein design with cutting-edge research at Lund University, a technology with no direct commercial comparable in Europe, and a regulatory tailwind that does not depend on voluntary adoption.
Karin Edström, General Partner at Turbine Capital
This investment allows us to take the next step from breakthrough science to real-world impact. Together with our partners at the Chemistry department at Lund University, RecoLab and industry partners, we will validate our technology in operational water treatment environments and accelerate the path towards commercial deployment. Our ambition is to make precision-designed proteins a new tool in the global effort to secure clean water.
Mikaela Persson, co-founder and CEO at LivingFilters
The investment is announced as Almedalen’s policy agenda places water security in sharper focus. PFAS contamination, pharmaceutical residues in raw water, and the resilience of municipal water infrastructure are all on the agenda this week — reflecting a growing recognition that water treatment is not only an environmental question but a critical infrastructure priority for a resilient society.
Reference conversations conducted by Turbine Capital all confirm that the problem is real, the market is active, and the search for flexible solutions has already begun.
About LivingFilters
LivingFilters Malmö AB develops AI-designed protein binders for selective detection and removal of water contaminants. The company was founded in 2025 by Mikaela Persson, Emelie Wilander and Amijai Saragovi. The company is based in Lund and affiliated with Ideon Science Park Incubator. http://www.livingfilters.bio
About Turbine Capital
Turbine Capital is an early-stage deep tech VC fund backed by multiple corporate investors and university affiliated incubators, marking a new model in Europe for industry-wide and cross-sector collaboration in venture capital. With a 15-year investment horizon, Turbine Capital combines financial backing with strategic industry partnerships to drive long-term innovation and global growth.
29.06.2026.
