Slovenian company to launch marine algae additive globally

Slovenia-based EKO GEA has a fairytale story that may seem too good to be true with its marine algae additive that can grow grass, boost biofuel production efficiency and eliminate municipal solid waste odors.

But CEO Mary Keenan told the Cleantech Group today that the company’s technology, which uses a brown algae known as Ascophyllum nodosum, is all it appears to be and more, and that the 15-year-old company is ready take its technology global.

The raw material Ascophyllum nodosum, also known as Norwegian kelp, is harvested off the coast of Norway, air dried and shipped to Slovenia for extraction at the company’s small plant, where 10 different products are produced—some in liquid and others in granular form.

“The proof is in the pudding,” she said, highlighting the fact that EKO GEA is not a concept company.

EKO GEA, which means Eco Earth in English, has developed a proprietary extraction process that Keenan says sets it apart from others on the market. The technology was developed by biologist and entrepreneur Goran Dordic. Keenan says the process is impossible to replicate or reverse engineer.

“We don’t have patents. We will never have patents. It’s a trade secret,” she said, without divulging details about how the extraction process works.

However, she said the process contains compounds that are destroyed by extraction processes used by its competitors.

Sydney, Australia-based New Bio-Products & Fuel (NBP&F) said it is developing IP around the production of what it says is low-cost, high algae growth as well as the extraction and conversion of algae (see EcoThermics sequesters carbon for HVAC efficiencies).

EKO GEA says its marine algae-based products can be used in human nutritional supplements or to increase crop yield in the agriculture sector, where the product is sprayed on plants.

“Typically, we see between a 20 to 30 percent increase in yield. Our product stimulates root growth,” Keenan said.

It’s also being used on three prestigious golf courses in Slovenia to grow grass.

Its liquid concentrates can be used to aide the digestion process with municipal solid waste and wastewater treatment, while eliminating odors, as well as enhancing biofuel production.

“Waste treatment is our lowest hanging fruit,” she said.

The company is also looking to add aquaculture customers and grow sales of its probiotic bottled water. The additive is a natural bio-activator, cleaner and source of nutrients, she said.

Keenan said many biofuel companies have been working on designer microbes that keep the microbes alive (see LS9, P&G team up for sustainable chemicals). EKO GEA’s additive feeds and protects conventional microbes, resulting in better quality and quantities of biofuel, she said. Her company has 15 commercial biofuel companies in Austria and Solvenia as customers.

The four-employee company, which is bringing in undisclosed revenue, is seeking €5 million ($7.5 million) to grow the technology that is already well-established in the Balkan territories on a worldwide level.  EKO GEA would use the funds to boost its sales and marketing, increase its production, and purchase more equipment and a larger production facility that has already been identified.

The company recently secured a UK distributor and is setting up a U.S. branch in Illinois.
The Solvenia water board also recently endorsed and is in the process of using EKO GEA’s products at 11 of its plants.

EKO GEA has been funded organically through sales, Keenan said. About 40 percent of the company’s sales are in biofuel production, with 30 percent coming from wastewater treatment, 20 percent in agriculture, and 10 percent in municipal solid waste.

EKO GEA is one of 15 new clean technology companies the Cleantech Group added to its innovation pipeline this week, available exclusively to members of its Cleantech Network. Members can click here to search the database.

Interested in emerging cleantech innovations? Here are two new companies added to the Cleantech Group's database this week also looking for funding:

• Florida-based Airgonomix is seeking $1 million to fund on-going development, to launch marketing activities and build inventory for a commercial launch in the first quarter of 2010. The company is developing a wireless heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) zoning system that provides room-level climate control that it says reduces HVAC energy consumption by 16 percent to 48 percent. The company has installed prototype systems in two commercial locations in central Florida that are available for demonstration purposes.
• San Francisco-based Industrial Origami, previously backed by the London-based Environmental Technologies Fund, is currently raising $20 million. The company is developing material forming technologies for more efficiently manufacturing sheet metal products. Its patented Industrial Origami Precision Fold technology is based on the creation of fold defining geometries, which, when put into sheet metal, enable new structures and innovative shapes (see Postcards from the San Francisco Cleantech Forum)

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