CustoMem

CustoMem was founded in 2015 by a team including Henrik Hagemann and Gabi Santosa and is located in London, United Kingdom. The company engineers microbial cellulose, also referred to as microbial nanocellulose, for water purification applications.



After originally pursuing sheet materials, CustoMem is now developing granular cellulose products to selectively capture and adsorb pollutants including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals present in wastewater streams. The CustoMem Granular Media (CGM) will compete in the market with ion-exchange resins and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC).



The company's headquarters are located on Imperial College London's White City Campus, which brings together researchers, business leaders, and industry partners to commercialize novel technologies.



The company originated from Imperial College London's 2014 iGEM Competition team project, Aqualose, which won a Gold Medal in that year's manufacturing track. The team finished second overall out of 245 teams.