PureSurf is a purpose-driven spin-off of the University of Graz (WG Sustainable Catalysis). We help the chemical industry adopt renewable resources as valuable assets by developing selective transformations and value-added products, to become an integral part of a sustainable, circular economy.
Born in the lab.
A spin-off founded as the culmination of a decade of green chemistry research at the University of Graz and the University of Groningen.
Scaled in Europe.
50 kg per batch produced in Germany with a partner. Bio-based surfactants ready for formulators.
Designed for a clean conscience.
Lower aquatic toxicity, reduced dosage requirements, and local supply chain potential. Performance without compromise.
Executive team
Combined, PureSurf's founding team brings decades of deep-tech company-building, award-winning green-chemistry research, and a track record of over EUR 135M raised across prior ventures.
EIC Grant Legacy Team
The scientific team that supported the EIC Transition Grant PureSurf.
Experience from science and industry.
From Research Project to Industry: the EIC Transition Story
PureSurf's technology was developed with the support of a EUR 2.48 million European Innovation Council Transition Grant, Grant Agreement No. 101058142, coordinated by the University of Graz and running from May 2022 to October 2025.
More than 100 new molecules on three platforms
The project set out to replace petrochemical and tropical-oil-derived surfactants with fully bio-based alternatives of at least 95 percent renewable carbon, made from European waste streams such as used cooking oils, vegetable-oil by-products and biomass-derived aromatics. Over the grant period the team designed and synthesised more than 100 novel surfactant molecules across three platforms: amphoteric amine oxides, sulfonates including double-head double-tail structures, and amino-acid-based surfactants.
From lab grams to a 50 kg pilot batch
The lead amine oxide molecule was scaled from lab grams to a 50 kg pilot batch with an external manufacturing partner. Techno-economic analysis confirmed production costs below EUR 10 per kg.
Proven in real formulations, gentler on aquatic life
External trials across eight commercial product formulations during the grant period verified drop-in feasibility and superior cleaning performance. Ecotoxicology testing showed the lead molecules to be 10 to 20 times less toxic to aquatic life, tested with daphnia and algae, than standard reference surfactants. A parallel research track produced a family of 34 novel bio-based antimicrobial compounds, matching or exceeding the performance of conventional antiseptics in standard efficacy assays.
Clearing the path to industry
A completed REACH regulatory roadmap and a clear freedom-to-operate analysis removed key barriers to commercialisation. PureSurf FlexCo now carries these results from the research project into industrial application.
The research is done. The products are real.
Want to evaluate surfactants born from this project in your own formulations? Talk to us.
From research project to industrial company.
Five years, five chapters: from the first patent to the founding of PureSurf FlexCo.
- 202101Intellectual property
- 2 EP patents & EIC Transition application filed
- 202202Project launch
- EIC Transition grant started, initial team hired
- 202303Validation
- First partnership secured
- First fully waste-based surfactant
- Superior properties verified
- Innovation Prize of the Province of Styria (Sustainability category)
- Austrian Gründungspreis PHÖNIX - Prototype category winner
- 202404Market readiness
- First results from customer testing
- First MVP
- kg-scale in-house production
- 202505Industrialisation
- >170 new molecules
- 1 EP filed
- >10 LOIs
- PureSurf FlexCo founded
Recognised by science and industry.
- StageTwo Investment Award 2023
- sfg Innovation Award 2023
- Innovation Prize of the Province of Styria 2023
- SPG Idea Competition 2025
- SEPAWA Poster Prize 2025
- TOP3 JW Elevator Pitch 2025
- Top-10 S&B Award 2026
- Innovation Prize of the Province of Styria (Sustainability category)
- Austrian Gründungspreis PHÖNIX - Prototype category winner
How we work in the lab
This is where our surfactants are born. In our lab in Graz we take renewable European raw materials through synthesis, purification and analytics, all the way to finished samples our partners can test.
From renewable feedstock to surfactant
In jacketed glass and stainless steel reactors we convert building blocks from European wood, agricultural residues and side streams into new surfactant molecules. Every batch is run under controlled temperature and documented step by step, so results can be reproduced and scaled.
Measured, not assumed
Automated liquid handling, HPLC analysis, tensiometry and rheology tell us exactly what we have made and how it behaves. Purity, surface activity and flow behavior are measured for every candidate before it moves forward.
Where chemistry becomes foam
Foaming, wetting and cleaning power are tested hands-on in the lab and quantified with instruments such as bubble pressure tensiometry. What performs here is what our partners later experience in their own formulations.
Chemists who build the future of surfactants
Behind every sample stands a team of chemists who plan, run and question each experiment. Short paths between bench, analytics and decision keep our development fast.
From our lab to your formulation
Interested in testing our surfactants in your application? Talk to us.
