WIA Invests in Glanris, world’s first green, hybrid water filtration media

By Didier Gogniat, on July 7, 2021

Water Innovation Advisors (WIA) has invested in Glanris’ Series A investment round led by investors Riceland, Pittco Capital, Innova, and Sage for funding the world’s first green, hybrid water filtration media, bringing total investment to $3.4 million.

Glanris’ patented manufacturing process and technology for removing contaminants, pyrolyzing rice hulls into a customized carbon filtration media. The Glanris 901x TM rice biochar media has better performance at a lower cost than traditional filtration media, removing metals and organic contaminants faster than activated carbon and removing dissolved metals as effectively as ion exchange resins at a fraction of the cost.

Glanris announced the opening of a new 60,000 square foot production facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where Glanris plans to produce up to three tons of Glanris 901x TM media per day with its patented kiln for processing rice hulls.

“We are currently testing Glanris in five different vertical markets today with great results,” said Max Kahn, CEO of BioPipe, a global distributor of wastewater treatment systems. “Glanris gives water services companies like ours a win-win when it comes to water filtration technologies. Not only is it fast, effective, and a fraction of the costs of ion exchange resins, but it also is green, removing CO2 through carbon sequestration.”

Glanris cleans water for use and reuse in industrial, municipal, and residential applications. They currently work with a variety of industrial customers, from HVAC manufacturers to automobile makers. Glanris will be selling into the residential market once they complete their full NSF 61 certification this summer.

Glanris’ media addresses several pain points in the water filtration process, providing:

same filtration capabilities as activated carbon and ion exchange resins at a fraction of the cost
faster kinetics for maximum filtration in a shorter period of time
easy water evaporation after the media is exhausted, resulting in lower disposal costs
green media that will continue to filter contaminants even at the landfill
remediation of PFAS, "forever chemicals" from wastewater

“We set out to create sustainable solutions for water filtration and reuse that can immediately impact our global use of water,” said Bryan M. Eagle III, CEO of Glanris. “We also wanted to create a media that would lower the cost for companies wanting peak filtration performance and at the same time want to do something better for the planet. We have taken the world’s largest agricultural waste product and converted it into a sustainable solution for solving the world’s water needs.”

The company was recently recognized as the regional winner in The University of North Carolina’s Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) and one of the Top 50 Deals in the US by the New York VC Network. Glanris was also selected by The Water Council to be one of 12 cohorts it selects each year for its next-generation accelerator program, BREW 2.0, for top late-stage water technology innovators.