Purify the air. Eliminating contaminating particles, viruses or bacteria is the goal that Barcelona businessman Joaquín Cusí set himself a decade ago after his father died of cancer. As a trained biologist and owner of an advertising company, he began developing a team that worked as a billboard to filter out harmful substances from outside. It took five years to develop and finally launched the Urban Air Purifier after the Covid outbreak. Since 2020, dozens of hospitals, gyms or restaurants like El Celler de Can Roca have installed their devices. Renfe is also already testing the equipment in one of its metro stations in Madrid. With more than 400,000 euros billed in 2023, it hopes to reach one million in 2024.
The machines are inspired by bus stop canopies and Mupis, urban advertising media. They work in a very simple way. They suck in the air at the bottom, filter it through various stages inside and finally expel it again at the top. The filtration is adapted to the main function it will have: whether it is to remove nanoparticles from a metallurgical industry, to retain pollutants suspended in the air of a public space, or to capture viruses and bacteria in healthcare facilities. Each unit also has an integrated digital screen that can be used to provide information or advertising. In Spain, devices are already installed in various parts of Madrid, Barcelona, Santander, Valencia and Córdoba, and some other projects are underway in cities such as Malaga. There are also units in countries such as Chile, Germany and Serbia.
Hospitals were the first to give the start-up a boost. The starting signal was given by the Barcelona Clinical Hospital, which tested the machine and decided to install it. Later he was sent to the Gregorio Marañón and La Paz in Madrid, which were followed by others such as the General Hospital of Valencia. “We had everything tested by laboratories at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, but each hospital center carried out tests before purchasing. It is the customers themselves who have confirmed to us that it works,” explains Joaquín Cusí, managing director of the company that selected Lanzadera for its acceleration program last September. “It has been very good for us because they help us a lot in taking the necessary growth path,” adds his son Mateo Cusí, an account manager.
The company was awarded the Renfe “Ecological Transportation” competition last fall. It is a pilot project to purify air in a metro station in Madrid. Whether the railway company purchases additional equipment worth up to one million euros depends on the results and effectiveness. Urban Air Purifier now aims to be a reference in air purification inside and outside Spain.
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