January 2018
NASEKOMO is the Bulgarian finalist at Chivas Venture 2018 – a global competition with US$ 1 million annual fund to support innovative companies using the power of entrepreneurship to create positive change in the environment and people’s lives. The local winner to represent Bulgaria at the grand final of the competition is developing a socially responsible business based on a technology for converting organic waste into an alternative source of protein by breeding larvae of the black soldier fly.
At an official ceremony in San Stefano Gallery, NASEKOMO was selected to continue to the world final after several selection phases, reaching the end of the selection procedure with three other socially responsible business startups - Checkpoint Cardio, AGNON and JAMBA. The national winner will join the other 28 finalists from all over the world that will initially go through a business accelerator programme in Oxford and then will be given the opportunity to present their projects at the TNW Technology Festival in Amsterdam in May 2018. The ambitious entrepreneurs will compete for their place in the top five to get their chance to convince the international jury including investors, entrepreneurs and media representatives that they deserve a portion of the US$ 1 million prize pool.
The national winner
NASEKOMO project is based on the concept of circular economy and develops a technology for converting organic waste into an alternative source of protein by breeding black soldier fly larvae. The company utilizes the ability of black soldier fly larvae to quickly and efficiently process and convert organic waste into protein which can be used for feeding various animals. The larvae of these insects feed on organic waste and transform it into protein biomass. After processing, this biomass is used to feed animals where larvae are a natural part of nutrition.
By implementing this project, the team has addressed two problems: on the one hand, the accumulation of organic waste which, when decayed, emits methane and contributes to air pollution, and on the other hand, the growing need for proteins, for which the traditional industries spend the scarce natural resources - arable land, water and fish stock. Proteins produced in this way will also allow farmers to feed their animals cheaper.
‘We created NASEKOMO because we strongly believe that many of the most significant problems facing our society have their own solutions that do not require huge budgets but rather innovative and non-standard thinking. The protein extraction technology we are developing is solid proof of that. And the fact that such a significant initiative as Chivas Venture took notice of our project among dozens of others shows us that we are on the right track. It gives us confidence that other people share our vision of a world where each of us bears responsibility and can help our planet,’ commented Mrs Olga Marsenak, co-founder of the company.
On 4 April 2018, shortly before the Chivas Venture 2018 final, a three-week online vote will begin on the basis of which US$ 250,000 of the total prize pool will be distributed among the projects with the most votes. At the grand final of the competition in May 2018, the international jury will determine the finalists among whom the remaining part of the prize pool will be distributed.
More information about the competition can be found at www.venture.bg
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