Clean 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.
A biologist by training and owner of an advertising company, he began to develop equipment that would act as an advertising panel while filtering harmful substances to the outside.
It took him five years to develop it and finally, after the outbreak of covid, he promoted Urban Air Purifier.
Since 2020, dozens of hospitals, gyms or restaurants such as El Celler de Can Roca have installed their units.
Renfe is also already testing the equipment in one of its underground stations in Madrid.
With more than 400,000 euros invoiced in 2023, it hopes to reach one million in 2024.
The machines are inspired by bus stop canopies and mupis, urban advertising supports.
They work in a very simple way.
They suck the air in at the bottom, filter it through different stages inside and finally expel it through the upper area.
Filtering is adapted to the main function it will have: whether it is eliminating nanoparticles from a metallurgical industry, retaining contaminants suspended in the air of a public space or trapping viruses and bacteria in healthcare facilities.
Each unit also has a built-in digital screen, which can be used to offer information or advertising.
In Spain there is already equipment installed in different parts of Madrid, Barcelona, Santander, Valencia or Córdoba, in addition to some more projects underway in cities such as Malaga.
There are also units in countries such as Chile, Germany or Serbia.
Hospitals were the first to give a boost to the start-up.
The starting signal was given by the Barcelona Clinical Hospital, which tested the machinery and decided to install it.
Later he arrived at 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 has carried out tests before purchasing them.
It is the clients themselves who have confirmed to us that it works,” explains Joaquín Cusí, executive director of the company, one of those chosen by Lanzadera last September to undergo its acceleration program.
“It has been very good for us because they are helping us a lot to take the necessary path to grow,” adds his son, Mateo Cusí, an account executive.
The firm was awarded Renfe's Ecological Transportation challenge last fall.
It is a pilot project to clean the air in an underground station in Madrid.
Whether the railway company acquires more equipment worth up to one million euros will depend on its results and effectiveness.
Meanwhile, Urban Air Purifier has set itself the goal of being a reference in air purification inside and outside of Spain.
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