Alumni Spotlight – Ekolive

SEEDBED STAR ALUMNI 2021 Ekolive

Ekolive is the first and leading provider of a new ecological bioleaching method for the ecological release of elements and the degradation of organic contaminants. With their innovative biological technology, ekolive solves environmental hazards and cleans contaminated sites that are polluted with heavy metals and/or organic substances, giving various industrial waste a second life, replacing dangerous mining and processing methods and removing metals from industrial minerals in an ecological and economic way. 

Although the cleaning of minerals and waste has been the main focus of the company, it was the liquid residue of their bioleaching method that started them on their EIT FAN journey. The Ekolive team noticed that grass was exploding in growth wherever they spilt the liquid residue, and instead of recycling the byproduct which would be costly, they realised it could be a valuable product for the agriculture sector. This led them to develop their bio fertiliser Ekofertileᵀᴹ which contains plant growth promoting bacteria, organic acids, and dissolved nutrients. Through the use of Ekofertileᵀᴹ bio fertiliser, growers can double their yields without the use of chemicals and pesticides. With over 30% of the world’s farmland exhausted of key nutrients and often contaminated, Ekolive’s biofertiliser presents an alternative, more sustainable way for producers to increase yields without the need to use chemicals and pesticides.

Recognising that they were not experts in the agricultural field themselves, Ekolive applied to be part of the EIT Food Accelerator Network in 2021 as a way of introducing and immersing themselves within the agrifood market. Being part of the EIT Food Accelerator Network gave the team access to agrifood specific workshops and mentoring on a wide range of topics, as well as networking opportunities with industry experts, research organisations and corporates. When asked what were the benefits of joining EIT FAN, Ekolive CEO Darina Styriaková explained that with the help of EIT Food, they were added to the European Input List for organic agriculture in just a few months, and that the programme helped them to grow their sales and strategically expand their team. 

Programmes

Launch - Seedbed Incubator

Accelerate - EIT Food Accelerator Network

Scale - RisingFoodStars

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