CIRCULÉIRE announces 2021 New Venture Cohort
Ireland’s first dedicated late-stage accelerator for circular economy ventures
CIRCULÉIRE is delighted to introduce the 2021 New Venture Cohort. The new venture programme is the first of its kind in Ireland (established in 2020) to target late-stage ventures who are demonstrating or enabling circular business models and is delivered in collaboration with Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Space.
Following a competitive selection process, we are pleased to announce the following 5 awardees who will receive a grant of €5k each and participate in our New Venture Innovation & Mentoring Programme over October 2021 to March 2022.
Check our great 5 New Ventures:
- Harley & Marley– Planet Loving Pets is a new super-premium range of fish-based pet treats made from sustainable and nutritious ingredients in Ireland. The company’s range is made by Origin Green Gold Members Atlantis Seafood of Kilmore Quay, Wexford and the first range features four products. Their treats are made of locally caught fish, under BIM/Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s FIP/Fisheries Improvement Project, meaning it is all sustainably fished and traceable.
“I am hoping to gain the expertise and advice of the highly qualified panel in CIRCULÉIRE, in particular in relation to linking with appropriate partners across Europe that may be able to help us gain market entry in their territories; with regard to streamlining manufacturing processes, increasing volumes and reducing labour costs, thus tightening up and improving upon our P+L; as well as examining alternative sustainable packaging solutions at keen prices”, Portia Quinn, founder.
- IFF Plastics Ltd. – turns waste plastic (farm, industrial and ocean plastic) into top quality fence posts using a closed loop recycling service. Their goal is to increase recycling volumes by 150 tonnes annually. They partner with farmers, business, and customers to deliver value in our circular business model.
“We applied to CIRCULÉIRE’s 2021 New Venture Programme because it is a fantastic opportunity to promote and grow our business. We value the opportunity to get mentoring and share lessons learned on our recycling, reuse, and business growth. I hope to gain networks with similar SMEs to create more closed-loop recycling systems in Ireland”, Sharon Barring.
- Niskus Biotec Ltd – is focused on the provision of innovative products and services to the agri-food and biotech sectors in fungal large-scale solid-state fermentation. The company works with customers to select the most suitable fungal strains for their process and growing media and to develop and scale-up new fungal derived high-value products such as proteins, enzymes, and intermediates.
- Sensi – Cleantech company Sensi has developed the world’s first Smart RVM (Reverse Vending Machine) using Visual AI. Sensi’s products incorporate advanced visual recognition technology and digital rewards, enabling deposit return schemes (private and regulated) for several recyclable materials and reusable products, in each case ensuring collection of a virtually uncontaminated stream of material.
“We expect our collaboration with CIRCULÉIRE will assist us in our goal of providing the new technology products to kick start deposit return schemes for both recyclable and reusable products, thereby driving Ireland’s transition to a net-zero carbon circular economy”, Nathan Misischi, co-founder.
- Verifact –The Verifact cloud-based sustainability platform enables supply chain information to be captured and stored securely. This data is then used to validate the supply chain claims including circular economy related claims. The story of the product can be brought to consumer level through the use of on-pack QR Codes.
“Verifact is a newcomer to Circular Economy space and is delighted to join the CIRCULÉIRE 2021 New Venture Programme. Verifact plans to utilise the programme to develop a sustainable business model providing services to Circular Economy participants”, Frank Fleming, CEO.
About CIRCULÉIRE
CIRCULÉIRE is a public-private partnership co-created by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and three strategic partners: the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EIT Climate-KIC. Together with industry partners CIRCULÉIRE aims to assist manufacturers and their supply chains to switch from linear to circular business models.
Read more about CIRCULÉIRE here.
