ALGIECEL raises DKK 10m (EUR 1.3m) in combined funding from Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund[1], a UK-based family fund and private individuals. ALGIECEL’s technology is linking CO2 utilization to the feed and food industry. After having successfully initiated operations of its pilot plant in 2022, ALGIECEL will allocate the new funds towards optimization of the algae-based carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology, creating further commercial interest in the high-value biomass products as well as in a design project of the first full-scale demonstration unit.
Copenhagen & Odense, 18. January 2023
ALGIECEL was founded to take part in solving the challenge of converting CO2 emissions into feasible business opportunities. ALGIECEL uses natural microalgae organisms, a highly compact and high-yield photobioreactor technology fitted into standard containers and a revenue-sharing business model to offer carbon capture as a service to industrial clients. The produced products are intended to be applied in the feed, food and cosmetics industry.
In the beginning of 2022, ALGIECEL got accepted into the BioInnovation Institute’s Venture Lab programme, and some important milestones were achieved during 2022. ALGIECEL finalized the design and construction of its pilot plant, and a collaboration agreement with Danish Technical Institute (TI) was signed. The pilot plant is in operation at TI’s premises in Taastrup, Denmark. The pilot technology has yielded strong initial results, seeing a major productivity increase from the initial test run in Q3 2022 to the start of 2023.
Additionally, European Union React grant and Innobooster grant funding totalling approx. DKK 3m (EUR 0.4m) has been obtained for the basic design of the first full-scale demonstration unit and pilot lab-scale downstream processing and shelf-life testing, respectively. On the commercial side, interest in the technology and the opportunity has been positive, demonstrated by letters of interest signed by potential technology clients and by potential buyers of the algae-based derivative products.
With the newly raised funds ALGIECEL is looking into an exciting 2023, when focus will move from pilot operations only into completing the full-scale design as well as initiating algae-product application trials with potential clients and research institutes already identified. Moreover, building additional interest from potential future clients in the CCU technology will be an important focus area, and thus securing additional funding for the upcoming demonstration full-scale project will be key to the future development of ALGIECEL and the technology.
Henrik Busch-Larsen, Founder and CEO at ALGIECEL, comments:
“We are very pleased and excited about the trust put in ALGIECEL, the team and the technology by such a well-renowned institution as Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund. Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund has underlined the need for companies to get on board with the sustainability agenda, and we will do our utmost to deliver good results in 2023, and we want to be measured upon our ability to do so!”
Valdemar Engel, Senior Investment Associate, Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund, comments:
”We are enthused about our support of ALGIECEL. ALGIECEL is an exciting company with a sustainable mindset, and the business has demonstrated an impressive amount of traction over a short span of time. Denmark holds a position of strength within the field of creating novel sustainable solutions, a position that we in Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund pride ourselves in furthering, and ALGIECEL’s photobioreactor is a perfect fit. The investment in ALGIECEL supports the fund’s goal in furthering the green transition through sustainable solutions. The team of ALGIECEL is poised to execute, and we look forward to being part of the journey ahead.”
About ALGIECEL
ALGIECEL positions itself primarily as the provider of a novel carbon capture and utilization (CCU) photobioreactor technology easy to install, scale and operate. ALGIECEL has designed a business model that transforms the cost challenge of CO2 removal and potential emission penalties into a profitable business opportunity across the entire value chain through revenue sharing from derivative product sales.
ALGIECEL’s vision is to make it easy for clients to remove millions of tonnes of CO2 annually from industrial production without hurting the clients’ bottom lines. The CO2 will be turned into highly valuable commodity products such as omega-3 oils and protein and omega-3-rich biomass to be used in food and feed products.
ALGIECEL was in mid-2021 founded by Henrik Busch-Larsen, who also previously co-founded Unibio, a leading sustainable protein company.
ALGIECEL is committed to always strive towards management and operations with high ESG standards.
ALGIECEL was one of five companies to be nominated for the Danish Chamber of Commerce Award 2022. Vestas won the award.
CONTACT ALGIECEL
Henrik Busch-Larsen, CEO
Phone: +45 21296974
E-mail: hbl@algiecel.com
www.algiecel.com
[1] Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund is the result of a merger of EKF Denmark’s Export Credit Agency (EKF), Vækstfonden, and the Danish Green Investment Fund.
