The other day, the Cloud4Y team returned from Lisbon, where the Web Summit 2019 conference was held. There we met a huge number of people involved in the development of their startup and the search for investments. Almost every second project could be called interesting, every third was brilliant. Many companies emphasized that their idea at least does not harm the climate, but as a maximum helps protect the planet. It was noticeable that people were increasingly concerned about the environment.
In this article, we will talk about seven startups and technologies that we found interesting. And yes, we decided not to limit ourselves to eco-themes, although it prevails.
Small offtopic
On the one hand, caring for nature is wonderful, and the more green projects are created, the better. On the other, this topic is mercilessly exploited. It is so imposed in the teeth that its value is lost, the final result of all this activity is incomprehensible. A startup that is at least indirectly concerned with caring for the environment immediately immediately declares it loudly, gathering media attention and getting investments. At the same time, useful ideas that “non-environmentally friendly” companies offer sometimes remain unattended. Sad gentlemen.
AI Assistant Architect
Howard Haukeland, being an architect by education (graduated from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design), worked for three years in the specialty, after which he decided to leave for free swimming, creating Spacemaker . Its development is an artificial intelligence-based platform that allows architects and developers to use more successful, ergonomic and efficient solutions at the design stage of buildings and structures.
Why is this startup looking forward to a great future? Norwegian (and not only Norwegian) city planning specialists form buildings primarily by hand. According to Haukeland, with maximum diligence, they will be able to study a maximum of 20-30 options, trying to optimize them taking into account many regulatory, design, environmental and economic constraints. And as the urban population grows, infrastructure changes, such methods are no longer very effective.
Spacemaker, when creating a layout, takes into account all possible factors. For example, how to orient a building in order to save electricity; what to do with the noise coming from the track; how to distribute sunlight in all apartments, how to minimize environmental damage during the construction and operation of the facility. All criteria are driven into the system in advance, and after processing the data, the platform offers several layouts to choose from.
Spacemaker allows you to test many iterations at the earliest stages, so developers will build better and more reliable houses, given the urban landscape.
The co-founders of the Norwegian startup were Anders Kvale and Karl Christensen. The former was the director of Arkwright Consulting for more than 12 years, the latter led the technical project at the consulting company BEKK. Since its inception, Spacemaker has managed to raise $ 25 million. Startups have been funded by Atomico and Northzone venture funds, Danish developer NREP, as well as OBOS, and the British Real Estate Technology Fund Round Hill Ventures. The first customers of Spacemaker were large European developers - Skanska AB and AF Gruppen ASA.
Artificial photosynthesis
Scientists borrow a lot from nature. Among the latest achievements of science is artificial photosynthesis. One of the first to speak of him was Bill Gates. He said that in order to solve energy problems, humanity must do what photosynthesis does. And he added: “Someday we can make this process even more effective than plants.” Through the efforts of the young British scientist Julian Melkiorri, this dream has already come true. True, one can not do completely without the help of nature.
Five years ago, a scientist demonstrated an artificial leaf made from silk protein and organoplastic chloroplasts. Plant cells are located in a special web isolated from real silk fibers, and turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. Unlike ordinary leaf, artificial material does not need special care, nutrition or soil. It can be used even in space to supply oxygen to a space station. True, there is one “but”. For successful photosynthesis, the invention of Melkiorri still requires water and light.
The principle of operation of an artificial sheet is identical to the traditional one: when absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, it produces oxygen and glucose due to solar energy. At the same time, the efficiency of the process, according to Melkiorri, increased by 49%.
Using this development, an environmental startup was launched in April this year.
The Arborea system also has another function: the product of photosynthesis is also an organic protein, which developers use to create plant foods. Moreover, these products may well become the main direction of the company.
Sand substitute
You may be surprised, but the sandy beaches beloved by many are endangered. The reason for this was the actively growing demand for sand from industrial enterprises. Pharmaceutical companies and the construction industry are particularly active. Using a trendy eco-theme, the New Zealand beer brand BD Breweris has attracted the attention of an audience by introducing a machine for processing glass into sand. Rather, a substitute for sand.
They did not think about the name for a long time: the device was given the name Beer Bottle Sand Machine. Initially, it was just a marketing move, since it was planned that only bottles of beer of certain brands (Export GOLD, Export Citrus or Export 33, if you are interested) would be processed. But the idea has become viral, and it can be developed into a full-fledged business.
How it works is shown in the video above. A man throws a bottle into an automatic machine, and small steel mallets, rotating at a speed of 2800 rpm, crush it in glass sand in 3-4 seconds. Label removal function is also provided. This is possible thanks to a special vacuum device that removes not only the label, but also the silica dust. Only 200 grams of sand substitute remains, which can be used in construction. So no silicosis and other sores!
Cars can be installed near beer bars, shops and other institutions. Technology will save the city from a large number of bottles, and beaches - from extinction. Such is the concern for the environment.
Parallel reality
The British James Dean and Harry Atkinson taught computers to understand the physical world in which we live. Having made friends while studying at the University of California at Irvine, young people decided to try their hand at geospatial technology. They developed a prototype platform that created an exact digital copy of a physical object or area of the environment, understandable for artificial intelligence.
SenSat startup was born in the kitchen of one of the apartments in the North London area in 2015. And in 2017, he was interested in the Swiss Pubal Consult fund, which invested £ 300,000 in the idea. This amount was enough to create a working product. Today, the SenSat platform creates digital copies of physical environments, or, in other words, “double worlds”.
Created models are realistic and fully digital. This allows machine learning and data analysis at any scale. To create models, SenSat collects information using satellites, lidars and drones. Then comes the working time of artificial intelligence.
AI is needed here to save customers time and money. It usually takes months for engineers to measure distances and test options. SenSat artificial intelligence, using cloud power , quickly checks thousands of versions, and as a result creates the best option.
A simple example: you need to build a railway with certain parameters. Let's say the slope should be 5 degrees, and the paths should be laid at a distance of 1.4 m. A typical engineer may need months to measure distances and test options. SenSat will cope with the task in a few minutes.
The startup can already boast of real cases. For example, for the developer Berkeley Homes, the local environment was recreated as part of a project to build 10 thousand new homes. Used new technology and Heathrow Airport. The founders seriously expect to conquer the US market, especially in Nevada, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It is there, according to the founders of the company, the highest capital costs for infrastructure.
The prospects for the startup are very good. Recently, $ 10 million was invested in it. The investors were the Chinese tech giant Tencent and the Russian investment company Sistema Venture Capital. SenSat's total investment since inception in 2017 is $ 15 million.
Bee Supplements
Thanks to bees, almost one third of all crops in the world are pollinated. But due to the active use of pesticides and climate change, a decrease in the population of these insects is observed. Beeflow, an Argentinean startup, has taken care of this problem by creating a nutritional supplement for bees. It is designed to improve their immune system and help it easier to tolerate low temperatures.
Tests of the food supplement began in Argentina, where it was proved that its use can increase the yield of almonds, blueberries, apples and kiwi to 90%. In February 2019, new trials began at a large almond grower in California. A feature of this culture is a short pollination time. Bees need to “have time” to pollinate plants for three weeks. If these days the air temperature drops below average, then the activity of bees decreases, and this leads to a decrease in yield. Thanks to the supplement, the bees retain their activity even at those temperatures at which they were previously uncomfortable.
Beeflow succeeded in attracting an investment of $ 3 million, which will be used to open an office in Los Angeles and promote the company in the United States. It will be difficult to predict whether the project will succeed.
Useful pajamas for women
The Portuguese startup Marialma recently introduced a collection of linen made from seaweed extracts. Lingerie is not simple, but healing. It is claimed that during sleep it will nourish the skin with beneficial substances. A whole collection designed for women has been created (outright discrimination, right?).
What is the value of the product? Marialma bedding is made from natural fibers (Egyptian cotton, hemp and cellulose fiber from eucalyptus wood) and with active ingredients such as zinc oxide and seaweed extract. According to the founders, such underwear fights skin diseases, relieves itching and inflammation of the skin, blocks unpleasant odors, has an antibacterial effect and is pleasantly cool to the touch. Lingerie is recommended for people with sensitive skin, babies and suffering from diseases such as eczema or atopic dermatitis.
The company developed the idea a little further and created similar women's clothing: pants, shorts and t-shirts. You can buy them on the site (price from 70 to 90 euros). Clothing is also designed for sleeping, but it's not classic pajamas. With such clothes, it’s quite possible to go out, says the founder of the company, Ana Osorio. Startup CA - menopausal women and pregnant. And also girls suffering from acne, night sweats, allergic diseases.
Dressing Uber
And finally, we want to tell you about a very, very unusual startup, the founder of which our colleagues met by chance. Seeing the company logo, they simply could not pass by. Meet the WeeWeeFree company. She offers the concept of "toilet in your pocket." That is, when it comes to you, you simply open the application and see where there is a toilet nearby (normal, for women, gender neutral, children’s, etc.).
The company itself appeared back in 2013, launching on Indiegogo. It did not work out, but the founder did not give up, continuing to work on the project. And, in principle, successfully. Already, the database has 180,000 toilets located in the United States. And it’s not just cabins, it’s quite a cozy restroom in the buildings of hotels, restaurants, shopping centers. The advantage of institutions is in attracting additional traffic.
We can’t say whether the company managed to find investors this time, but if you are interested, we can give you contacts :))
What else is useful to read on the Cloud4Y blog
→ Configure top in GNU / Linux
→ Pentesters at the forefront of cybersecurity
→ The path of artificial intelligence from a fantastic idea to the scientific industry
→ 4 ways to save on backups in the cloud
→ Mutt story
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