$9m · Series A · Cleantech · Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich-based UniSieve has raised $9m in Series A funding to scale its high-precision membrane systems for industrial gas separation. The company announcement says the Orano Venture Fund, managed by Supernova Invest, led the round, with Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, Founderful, Zürcher Kantonalbank and Guenat Holding participating. UniSieve says the financing takes its total funding to $25m and will support expansion in existing markets and additional industrial applications.
Industrial separation often relies on heating, cooling or solvents to split gases with very similar properties. UniSieve instead uses membranes containing crystalline pores tuned to molecular size. A pressure difference moves selected molecules through the membrane while retaining others, creating two continuous gas streams. The company packages the membranes into complete systems intended to integrate with existing industrial infrastructure.
From technical validation to an operating system
UniSieve says its technology has reached pre-commercial maturity in two applications: olefin separation and point-source carbon capture. Its announcement describes both as backed by repeatable manufacturing, field-validated performance and deployable systems. Tech Funding News reports that Polish chemicals company Qemetica has begun live testing of a UniSieve carbon-capture unit, while returning investor APEX says the company has progressed from pilots to larger systems with paying customers.
The commercial offer is broader than a membrane cartridge. UniSieve's technology page describes a bundle of equipment, licence and service delivered as one system, with in-house membrane production and site integration. For a chemical plant, the value can come from recovering product that would otherwise be lost, relieving a process bottleneck or controlling emissions with less energy-intensive equipment. Selling that outcome can support a deeper customer relationship, but it also makes engineering, commissioning and reliable operation part of what UniSieve must deliver.
Repeatability is the Series A test
Industrial gas streams differ in composition, pressure and operating conditions, so a successful demonstration does not automatically become a standard installation. UniSieve will have to show that crystal tuning and system configuration can be repeated across plants without every project turning into a separate engineering programme. Its in-house production may help control membrane quality, while containerised delivery can narrow the integration work, but customers will still demand long-duration evidence before changing a critical process.
The two initial applications provide different commercial routes. Olefin recovery can improve production economics by returning valuable hydrocarbons to a process; point-source capture depends more heavily on each site's emissions obligations and route for using or storing captured CO₂. The round gives UniSieve capital to move both from validation toward broader deployment. The milestone that matters now is not another laboratory result, but repeatable systems operating for paying industrial customers.
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Sources checked:
UniSieve funding announcement · UniSieve technology page · Tech Funding News · APEX Ventures · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
