Swedish industrial conglomerate SKF Group launched SKF Ventures late last year to back early and growth-stage companies in industrial innovation, manufacturing optimization and sustainability. It aims to build a pipeline of future business opportunities from the outside in.
The corporate venture arm’s first investment is in Anferra, a Swedish startup that uses water-based chemistry to recycle steel-grinding sludge, a hazardous byproduct of manufacturing metal products such as turbines or gears that has long lacked a viable recycling path.
“Grinding sludge is one of the toughest recycling challenges in the steel and bearing industry,” said SKF Ventures’ Mikael Krook. “Anferra’s approach represents a way forward and positions us well to drive circularity and decarbonization.”
Stephen Industries, a Finnish family office, joined SKF in the round alongside Swedish VC firm Chalmers Ventures.
Upcycling
Anferra’s patented process converts steel grinding sludge into ferric chloride, a widely used water and wastewater treatment chemical. It also produces hydrogen gas, which can be captured and used as an energy carrier.
Anferra says its technology uses relatively little energy and recovers up to 90% of the iron in steel grinding sludge, creating a valuable resource stream. “Our ambition is to significantly reduce the landfilling of grinding sludge while increasing circularity and resource efficiency on a global scale,” said Anferra’s Ebba Adolfsson.
