Venture:
Folia Materials
Founders:
Jonathan Levine ’11SEAS ’04CC and Theresa Dankovich
Industry:
Health, water, and sanitation
Venture Type:
Hybrid
What is the social or environmental issue being addressed?
Almost two billion people around the world consume microbiologically contaminated drinking water and pay the poverty penalty: overpaying in time, energy, or money to obtain safe drinking water. Lack of clean water is catastrophic for public health, as diarrheal illnesses alone kill more than 500,000 children a year.
Innovation:
Folia Materials is an IP materials company with a patented process to use paper mills to manufacture low-cost nano-metal functionalized materials that are commercialized by creating new market-defining consumer goods product lines. Their first two product lines are Folia Water and Folia Food Packaging.
Folia Water produces nanosilver-infused water filter papers that eliminate bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, making water safe to drink. Folia Water's patent-pending process uses standard paper machinery at the world's largest nanofactories to make antimicrobial Folia Filters for only 3 cents each. Each is packaged like a coffee funnel and is a week of safe, germ-free drinking water for only 50 cents, priced to be affordable for low-income families earning $2–10/day. Folia is creating a new $1B+ category of consumer goods water filters, to be sold through distributors in retail stores throughout developing countries as a mass-market staple at a 75–95% savings to bottled water. Folia Food Packaging focuses on paper R&D for food packaging applications.
Read More:
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August 1, 2017 - Last Look: Drinkable book
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April 16, 2016 - This ‘Drinkable Book’ May Be the Answer to the World’s Clean Water Problem
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
August 19, 2015 - ‘Drinkable book’ filters filthy water and makes it safer to drink, researchers say
The Washington Post
August 19, 2015 - If You Spill Water On This Book, That's A Good Thing
NPR
August 19, 2015 - This ‘Drinkable Book’ Purifies Water By Removing 99.9 Per Cent Of Bacteria
HuffPost
August 18, 2015 - Bug-killing book pages clean murky drinking water
HBBC News
August 16, 2015