Greenairy's Plant Towers Tackle Toxic Office Air With Biology Instead of Filters

The question of workplace air quality led Tanvi Thombre and Lakshya Saraf down an unexpected path when they were engineering students working in their university makerspace. The turning point came when Thombre's best friend fainted and required hospitalization—an incident that made them realize they had been breathing in dangerous fumes from laser cutters, 3D printers, and soldering irons without knowing it.

Their investigation into indoor air pollution revealed a widespread but overlooked threat. Thombre explained via email: "We began investigating indoor air pollution and realized it was an invisible but dangerous health risk — especially in schools, offices, hotels, salons, and any commercial buildings where air-conditioning prevents windows from being opened."

Even buildings with air purifiers face this challenge. Saraf noted that while conventional purifiers excel at removing particulate matter such as dust and pollen, they struggle against toxic gases including carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, and benzine—compounds classified as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that readily evaporate into the air. Research from Harvard demonstrates that better indoor air quality boosts cognitive function and productivity, while Thombre pointed to the connection between VOCs and chronic disease as well as "sick building syndrome," a condition where building occupants experience health problems and discomfort without an identifiable cause.

Their startup, Greenairy, addresses this gap by designing plant towers that pull in air, neutralize toxic gases, and release cleaned air back into the environment. According to Saraf, "A plant in a pot cleans air slowly. But, when we change the conditions around the plant, it cleans air much faster and better than these conventional methods." Unlike conventional filters that require frequent replacement and only handle a limited range of VOCs, plants offer what Saraf described as "a natural solution, no harmful byproducts are formed, and no filter replacement is required."

The company has already run short-term tests at multiple locations in Singapore. Using RESET-certified air monitors, Saraf's team compared three office environments: one equipped with Greenairy towers, another with a medical-grade ionizer that uses electrical charge to clump particles together, and a third with a HEPA air purifier. The results showed that "Our tower had the lowest VOC levels and removed VOCs the fastest," Saraf said. "The office staff also grew fond of the natural 'fresh' aroma of the tower and the natural vibe it brought."

Thombre reported seeing an "immediate" improvement during regular business hours, with a 50% reduction in both daily VOC averages and peak levels. Performance continued to improve as "the plants and microbes mature and the gases are prevented from accumulating." The German certification firm TÜV SÜD has validated these results, which will be published soon, with the founders planning to move into large-scale manufacturing once certification is complete.

Currently, Saraf operates from Berkeley, California, while Thombre is based in Singapore—a geographic split that Saraf said "works well at this stage," enabling one founder to oversee testing while the other pursues fundraising opportunities in the Bay Area. Saraf indicated that "If things go to plan, both of us will be in Singapore by the first half of 2027. That's when we expect to launch our first mass-produced towers and install them for our first customers" in Singapore. Greenairy is competing in TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200.