Is there a safe level of "forever chemicals" in your water?
PFAS are everywhere: from the non-stick pans in your kitchen to the contact lenses in your eyes, and even 92% of strawberries. They are the "super chemistry" that modern society relies on, but they are also a toxic legacy that refuses to break down.
In this episode, Ravi Kurani sits down with Henrik Hagemann, the potato farmer turned deep-tech entrepreneur who is solving this crisis at the molecular level. As the CEO and Co-founder of Puraffinity, Henrik is engineering smart materials that target and capture PFAS with sniper-like precision, preventing them from entering our waterways and bloodstreams.
In this episode, we cover:
The PFAS Reality Check: Why "forever chemicals" are found in everything from pesticides to waterproof jackets.
Beyond Activated Carbon: How Puraffinity’s "Lego-like" material science outperforms traditional filtration by 7x.
From Farm to Founder: Henrik’s journey from processing potatoes in Denmark to leading a Series A deep tech company in London.
The Business of Water: Navigating the "Valley of Death" in hardware and selling to risk-averse industries.
Diversity as a Superpower: Why international, diverse teams are statistically safer and more profitable in engineering.
🔗 Links & Resources:
Learn more about Puraffinity: https://www.puraffinity.com/
Connect with Henrik on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrikhagemann/
Read the "Engine Plus" Report: https://raeng.org.uk/policy-and-resources/equity-diversity-and-inclusion-research-and-resources/edi-engine-benefits-of-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-in-engineering/
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