Sustainable solutions from waste and plants received the SEIF Awards 2019

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Ritah Ayebare Nyakato

01.07.2019
Seif Award winners 2019

Fenx and Bloom Biorenewables from Switzerland won two of the three main categories of the SEIF Tech for Impact Awards. Fenx is developing non-inflammable insulation foams from natural waste while Bloom combines plant materials and science to develop alternative solutions to Petroleum. MeduSoil also took home a prize, as the audience’s best solution.

Everyone is responsible for creating a sustainable environment, however, this can be achieved through collaboration and creating an impact ecosystem to address various social economic and environmental challenges. This was one of the key messages from Nir Shimony, Co-Founder & CEO at TechForGood Israel, to the congregation at the SEIF Awards Ceremony. According to him, entrepreneurs play a vital role in making the world a better place and they ought to be supported with the right tools but also brought together with the right people to enable them to achieve their goals.

Indeed, SEIF has made it its mission to support outstanding startups that strive to develop solutions for a better world. The SEIF Awards Tech for Impact, recognize startups that are using technologies to develop innovative solutions to address societal and environmental challenges as well as contribute to the UN sustainable development goals.

For the 2019 awards, 337 potential solutions entered the challenge and only ten finalists made it to the final stage to pitch to the audience. Through the public voting, the audience voted for MeduSoil as the best solution. MeduSoil developed the world’s first ground bio-stabilization technology that facilitates the development of strong mineral binders for securing the stability of infrastructures against threats such as soil erosion, landslides and earthquakes.

The three main categories of the SEIF awards, each endowed with a cash prize of CHF 10’000, were bestowed onto Fenx and Bloom Biorenewables from Switzerland and Provement from Sweden.

Fenx, which is based in Zurich, won the category ‘SEIF award for Social Innovation’ supported by UBS. Fenx is developing a non-flammable and non-toxic insulation foam solutions with zero CO2 emissions. This is achieved by transforming mineral waste into high-performance insulation panels for the building industry. The material is non-toxic, non-flammable and recyclable. At receipt of the Award, Etienne Jeoffroy, CEO and co-founder of Fenx said; “It is encouraging winning this award. We are in a very early stage and this ward means that we are on the right path”. The SEIF award builds on to the startup’s current achievements including the closing of a seed round of CHF 520’000.

Bloom Biorenewables, based at the EPFL Innovation Park won the ‘SEIF Award for Responsible Business’ supported by PWC. The startup was recognized for its groundbreaking technology for developing alternative solutions for many petroleum-based products. To further develop their solution, the startup has already closed a pre-seed round of CHF 700’000 and aims to raise CHF 1 million in a seed round during the course of the year.

Photo (by Eva Zingg): Award holders (L –R) (Provement), Dimitrios Terzis (MeduSoil) Florent Héroguel (Bloom Biorenewables) and (Fenx).

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Bloom Biorenewables SA

FenX AG

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