On 2nd December 2021, Francesca Marchetto and her Algreen team was awarded the 3rd prize in the European finals of the EIT Jumpstarter/New European Bauhaus competition, an EU program for the most promising start-up companies in the EU. Their project on the microalgal bioroutes for CO2 valorisation is now co-funded by the EU. Algreen is the brainchild of an international group of young people: Michał Mikołajczyk (CEO and Full-stack Engineer), Milica Djurovic (COO and Architect), Haakon Seim (VP of Technology and Software Engineer) and Francesca Marchetto (VP in Microbiology) who is also a PhD student in Biology under supervision of Prof. Joanna Kargul, Solar Fuels Laboratory, Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw.
Algreen’s purpose is to cultivate algae to produce biomass, by capturing and utilising carbon dioxide from industrial point source emissions. Algreen’s facility will be the first one in Poland to grow microalgae on an industrial scale. Due to its scalable nature, it is aimed to become the biggest microalgal facility in Europe. In the initial stages of operation, the core product will be biomass which subsequently will be utilised as biofertilizers and animal feed, as algal species, such as Chlorella spp., have been proven to enhance soil properties as well as the growth and health of many crops and farm animals. Francesca and her Algreen team believe that optimised algal biomass production will make valuable microalgae commodities more accessible globally.
In the following phase, Algreen will expand towards an algae biorefinery, aiming to deliver new valuable products, e.g., bioethanol, biodiesel, vitamins, carotenoids, and more. Algal biomass production is a highly competitive business, and Algreen’s advantage will be in the innovations that will allow for obtaining bigger crops yield at a lower cost. Therefore R&D will always be at the core of Algreen’s operations.
Reach out to Francesca and her team for more information! (f.marchetto@cent.uw.edu.pl)
