Who are Hive Ventures?
The Hive Ventures team began in February 2021.
Based in Liverpool, UK, the team comprises of three research managers and our Hive Ventures Director. The team was created to support our investments in the circular economy and to grow our sustainable business group.
Hive Ventures is now up and running! Over the past 12 months the team have secured investment in three companies who align with our mission to save the planet. Each company is now in the process of completing their respective development programmes, finalised markets, and product and technology testing are on-going. The goal is for the first business to be in commercial production by the end of 2022.
Our sustainable investments
Across the three companies (Nafici Environmental Research, CuanTec, and DBG BioEnergy) there is a common theme. Each business takes an existing waste stream and processes it to produce a valuable, waste-based product that can compete with the fossil-fuel-based alternative on functionality and price.
CuanTec
Cuantec is a circular economy business based in Scotland. The business will convert shellfish waste into chitin, a valuable, natural, 100% compostable biopolymer.
Chitin has a wide range of applications in the medicine, cosmetic and food industries. Today, shellfish waste creates serious environmental damage; it is either sent to landfills or incinerated. As a result, this otherwise unused waste stream emits tonnes of damaging CO2 into the environment.
The company uses a scientifically proven method to process shellfish waste in an environmentally friendly way. Their product is high-quality, ultra-pure chitin. CuanTec’s chitin extraction process uses 66% less electricity than traditional chitin extraction, thereby contributing to the circular economy.
Nafici Environmental Research
Based in the South of England, Nafici Environmental Research (NER) has developed ground-breaking patented technology that transforms agricultural residues, such as wheat straw, into EcoPulp.
EcoPulp is an excellent alternative to wood-based pulps used in the production of paper packaging materials.
Today, there is huge focus on reducing the world’s carbon footprint and the drain on natural resources such as water. NER’s patented technology has a positive impact as:
1 – Agricultural residues such as wheat straw can often be left to rot in the fields or burnt causing detrimental impact on soil and air quality. Repurposing the straw for EcoPulp ensures positive use of a valuable material.
2 – Water usage can be up to 95% lower versus traditional pulping processes.
3 – Energy usage is up to 50% lower versus traditional pulping processes.
DBG BioEnergy
DBG BioEnergy Group is a highly innovative green energy company based in the Netherlands.
DBG BioEnergy established a cradle-to-cradle approach to process paper sludge, an industrial waste stream from the paper and pulp industry. Based on biotechnological research and development, DBG uses a patented enzyme technology to up-cycle this specific waste into BioLNG, green fertilisers and Liquid CO2.
The future for Hive Ventures
With a team with mixed scientific disciplines, Hive Ventures are not only working to ensure our current investments are successful, but we continue to look for further strong carbon-negative business opportunities.
If you’d like to learn more about our circular economy investments, or you run a sustainable business and would be interested in joining the Hive Group, get in touch today using the button below.
