BAOM Eco Solutions (startup) and Biological Agricultural Era (BioAge) (pre-growth) are the 2023 GreenPitch Challenge winners.
These green economy innovators were chosen by two separate panels of judges during a pitch event hosted by GreenCape in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom on 27 July. The judging panel consisted of representatives from Holocene, French South African Tech Labs, Viridian, WWF-SA, Ushiri, DBSA, Sarebi, Savant, Edge Growth and Untapped Global. Also present were the South African SME Fund, the Green Outcomes Fund, African Angel Academy, GEAPP and other green finance ecosystem partners.
BAOM Eco Solutions is a biotech startup developing 100% home-compostable biofilms as alternatives to flexible plastics. With five effective prototype categories, their goal is to replace single-use plastics with a cost-effective, locally sourced, earth-friendly solution.
“The GreenPitch challenge was an incredible opportunity to be involved in, from innovative inspiration to partnering networks and highly valuable business-concept workshopping. Gaining access to such incredible minds and support was invaluable. BAOM is over the moon to have won the startup category and shared in this rare opportunity to accelerate green economic businesses forward. Thank you to Green Cape and all the sponsors and judges for your dedication to green success,” said Chloe Cormack, BAOM co-founder and business development lead. “So glad we participated in this awesome challenge. Thank you for believing in BAOM and our projected impact,” said Melian Dott, BAOM co-founder and product development lead.
Biological Agricultural Era (BioAge) is an agri-biotech startup that integrates propitious solution for the agricultural sector of South Africa. The flagship product ‘Nitro-Gro’ is liquid organic fertilizer and plant bio-stimulant.
“The experience for BioAge has been phenomenal and created a pathway to scale our footprint across South Africa,” said Reuben Riley, BioAge founder and CEO, who was joined on the day by Solomzi Xintolo, BioAge founder and COO.
“In the field of green technology, this event marks a big milestone in our collective efforts to foster innovation and sustainability,” said Wayne Alexander from FNF. “By partnering with GreenCape, we aim to create an impetus for green technology that will help build a more sustainable future,” he added.
The two winners will now each receive a set of prizes sponsored by RMB Ventures, Google Startups for Sustainable Development, LaunchLab, sarebi, AltGen and The Ethical Agency.
“It was again a privilege to be part of this challenge that helps empower the green economy and links entrepreneurs to not only capital, but additional capabilities required for success. This initiative is congruent with our purpose to empower South Africans to achieve their full potential. We applaud all the finalists for their remarkable ideas and efforts towards solving environmental problems, as well as seeking attractive commercial business models,” said Ewan Gray, private equity transactor at RMB Ventures.
The 2023 GreenPitch Challenge Top 10 finalists, chosen from ~220 inspiring entries, are, in alphabetical order:
AG Beyond Sustainability focus on helping farmers transition to sustainable and regenerative agriculture. Their product, Dijo Tsa Mobu, is an organic fertilizer made from chicken manure.
(Winner) BAOM Eco Solutions is a biotech startup developing 100% home-compostable biofilms as alternatives to flexible plastics. With five effective prototype categories, their goal is to replace single-use plastics with a cost-effective, locally sourced, earth-friendly solution.
(Winner) Biological Agricultural Era (BioAge) is an agri-biotech startup that integrates propitious solution for the agricultural sector of South Africa. The flagship product ‘Nitro-Gro’ is liquid organic fertilizer and plant bio-stimulant.
Disa Scientific, with their olive brine treatment process, is a small independent R&D laboratory with a focus on agricultural and industrial wastewater treatment and beneficiation. They have developed a process for treatment of table olive brine effluent, which is a problematic waste stream that presents disposal problems.
Greenmovement Energy is the manufacturer of Woodies, a lignocellulose-based biomass made from waste materials from the agricultural sector. Woodies are a low-carbon solid fuel used as a replacement for A- and B-graded coal in industrial coal-fired boilers.
INO-Biodiesel is a green energy, producing clean fuel from waste cooking oil. They collect waste cooking oil and convert it into clean fuel, in partnership with women and youth in rural communities through agricultural development.
Learn Base Energy is an energy efficiency technology that uses IoT and data science to collect energy from facilities, analyses the data and builds an energy saving model based on the data while continuously comparing it with prehistoric data overtime to showcase the return on investment (ROI) in real time.
Optima Agrik (Pty) Ltd with their Sodium Reduction Unit (SRU) removes non-nutrient salts from irrigation water so that greenhouse farmers can reuse the water that drains out of the root zone of the plant.
Regen Organics transforms organic waste that would otherwise end up in landfills into valuable agricultural inputs. Their high-quality organic fertilizers and protein feed empower small scale farmers to transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture.
STROOM Electric Cargo Delivery System is a women-owned cargo e-bike design, manufacturing and on-demand delivery enterprise.
Upcoming opportunity
The Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency will be launching a call for entries in August for their first regional Green Economy Innovation Challenge. Keep an eye on their website for more information. If you want to be involved as a prize sponsor for the Mpumalanga Green Economy Innovation Challenge,
