Microalgae gives us - through photosynthesis - the oxygen we need to breathe. But they also have plenty of other benefits: they are a source of proteins, lipids, pigments, vitamins and carbohydrates with a wide range of product applications. European Innovaton Council pilot's SME Instrument-funded company, AlgaEnergy, is exploring microalgae’s wide potential. The company is collaborating with many industrial partners already. This year, the AlgaEnergy signed a commercial agreement with a fertilizer leader in Spain, to combine efforts on its products and other agricultural bio stimulants. The company also recently opened a subsidiary in Japan.
AlgaEnergy is a Spanish technology-based company, specialised in the field of microalgae biotechnology, which has been exploiting all of microalgae's commercial potential. Using an improved culturing and harvest process, it produces high quality microalgae biomass and derived products for a wide range of sectors such as human nutrition, feed, agriculture, biofuels, aquaculture and cosmetics.
In 2016, the project received a grant of over € 2 million by SME Instrument to continue to explore the enormous microalgae potential. ”The support of the European Commission through the SME Instrument has being an invaluable breakthrough for our company. The grant and the international prestige it implies have given in a major boost to our business,” said Augusto Rodríguez-Villa Matons, CEO of Algaenergy.
The company's promoters are a group of experienced and prestigious entrepreneurs and researchers who guarantee a contaminant-free set of products which help to preserve the environment every day, since microalgae can grow in sea, fresh, brackish and waste waters and doesn't need fertile lands. Moreover, the scientific community already agrees that microalgae will be one of the biggest generators of clean energy, contributing to a more sustainable future.
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DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.