FluoRok, a University of Oxford spinout, has recently raised $30 million (£22.3 million) in an oversubscribed Series A funding round. The company, which hopes to tackle a key bottleneck in fluorochemical manufacturing, intends to use these funds to begin the mass-production of their new technology. 

FluoRok has been backed by three new investors, Orano Venture Fund, Supernova Invest, and Bidra Innovation Ventures – all of which have previously invested in several deeptech companies (technology companies based on breakthrough scientific discoveries). Existing investors also participating in the round include the University of Oxford Volta Energy Technologies, and Business Growth Fund (BGF).

Fluorochemicals are a group of chemicals that contain the element fluorine, the most reactive element of the periodic table. These substances are highly sought-after, and are essential to the production of lithium-ion batteries, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing.  Approximately 20% of medicines today include the element, alongside nearly 70% of all pesticides introduced between 2015 and 2020.

Fluorochemicals have been made using the same dangerous method for 250 years. But the spinout, which was founded in 2022, has found a safer and cheaper process to create them, solving a significant bottleneck in the industry.

The current method to produce fluorochemicals relies on high-purity fluorspar (calcium fluoride) being mixed with hydrogen to create hydrogen fluoride. The problem with this method is twofold. 

Firstly, the West is heavily reliant on China for fluorspar – the country mined 60% of the world’s global output in 2025. Secondly, hydrogen fluoride is a highly toxic chemical that requires specialist equipment when handled. This poses a problem to its commercialisation as there are few locations with adequate infrastructure and investment to produce it. 

A major breakthrough, Fluorok’s new method uses mechanical activation, a process that increases the reactivity of chemicals via pure force (e.g. intensive compression) rather than using high temperatures and acid. Their alternative completely bypasses the need for hydrogen fluoride – meaning that the process is safer and more accessible.

Dr Gabriel Pupo, the CEO and Founder of FluoRok, and also an ex-Research Associate at the University of Oxford, has said: ‘This funding will ensure FluoRok can swiftly move from start-up to scale-up and take a further step towards becoming a large-scale industrial manufacturer.’

Angel investors in FluoRok have also commented on the startup’s potential. Hannah Wade, the Managing Director of CPI Enterprises (the venture capital arm of the UK’s Centre for Progress Innovation) has said: ‘FluoRok is tackling an important challenge in fluorochemical manufacturing.

[…] By combining investment with CPI’s technical expertise and scale-up capabilities, we’re helping accelerate the commercialisation of innovations that can deliver long-term economic and industrial impact, while supporting the growth of new manufacturing capability and economic value across the north of England.’

The global fluorochemicals market is currently valued at approximately $28 billion (£20.9 billion), and is projected to reach over $37 billion (£28 billion) by 2031.