Featured ZINOpreneur of the Week: Mark Owen of Puralytics

Mark Owen of Puralytics

Our ZINO Society featured ZINOpreneur Member this week is Mark Owen, Founder and CEO of Puralytics. Mark presented his company at the ZINO Society ZINO Green Investment Forum in April, 2011. We asked him to share the answers to a few questions about his company.

• What is your one-sentence elevator pitch? . . .  Puralytics has pioneered a new technology for water purification using LEDs and nanotechnology, which is able to destroy chemicals and microorganisms and remove heavy metals making it ideal for industrial processes and decentralized drinking water applications.
• How did you come up with the idea for your company? . . . While travelling in Tokyo, I saw a building with a sunlight activated nanotechnology “self-cleaning” coating that prevented algae growth and pollutant build up and I thought “ how could I get the light of the sun and the surface area of a building into a can?”  Over time we identified the exact wavelengths and intensities could be applied with LEDs, the surface area of a building could be achieved with a nanotechnology coated mesh, and have found other extensions that broaden the efficacy, efficiency, and breadth of contaminants that can be treated.
• The word that best describes your company culture is . . . focused.
• How are you different from your competition? . . .  Existing solutions merely move contaminants around into filters and waste streams, and are not effective with organic chemicals, whereas these are our strengths, and the contaminants are completely destroyed in our process.
• What is the biggest challenge you face? . . . Building the channel to market that supports the size of the opportunity.
• How much money have you raised to date? . . .  $940,000 through angel investors and the management team, and $516,000 through government research grants.
• If someone gave your company $3 million tomorrow, how would you use the money? . . .  To support our go-to-market plan, tool up our product for higher volume production, complete additional IP filings and certification tests, and add to our sales and engineering teams.
• Why will your company be successful? . . . We have a unique technology that is hitting the market at the same time that organic contaminants (pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, petrochemicals, pesticides, etc.) are of growing interest, and have a team that is experienced at the process of starting a company and introducing new technologies to markets.