05
d'Octubre
de
2016
Act.
06
d'Octubre
de
2016
"Bioo is a technology for generating electricity from the photosynthesis of plants," is how Pablo Vidarte, who brought together a group of young people barely over 20, summarises Bioo as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Pablo is the ideologue and CEO of the company that on Wednesday takes part in the South Summmit 2016 as one of the finalists of the Startup Competition in the field of industry and energy. "We are going there with the idea of introducing ourselves and getting to know people. It is just another adventure," says Vidarte.
And the thing is that the Bioo adventure has turned the idea into reality. At the end of the year will begin the distribution of the the first Bioo Lites, a smartphone charger that uses energy from the photosynthesis of plants. It is a product aimed at showing how the technology they have created can be used, and for which they have already had more than 1,000 pre-orders as part of a crowdfunding campaign that raised 118,000 euros in only a few weeks. "The aim of the company was to see how the market would react," says the Bioo CEO.
Who would have thought of getting energy from plants?
"The idea came from some friends trying to find new ways of using solar energy," relates the young man from Seville. After trying out a few ideas with results that "were not very positive", he got the idea of extracting energy directly from plants, "which would be the most natural method." Using a biological battery, the process consists of decomposing the organic material expelled by the plant through its roots, and then capturing electrons to create an electric current. In two weeks he had the first prototype, even though he admits that "it did not produce much." That was almost two years ago.
After having the idea, the project had to be structured, which took place in Barcelona, where Vidarte had come to study Engineering. He already knew Javier Rodríguez, from Huelva, with whom he had studied his Batxillerat, and who was also in Barcelona studying Nanotechnology. "This is where we met Àlex Díaz, a student of Economy who manages the financial side." Vidarte says that "in principle we are still studying," but he admits that his main focus is the company. They are currently renewing their staff and predict that they will have a stable team of nine people in November.
The greenest energy consumption
Although the smartphone charger is attention-grabbing, the aim for Bioo in the long term is to fully develop a metre-long panel to generate energy that can be installed in any garden. "If you have a 100-metre garden, with plants like lawn or lettuce, you could use it," he says. In the case of taller plants, such as trees or bushes, Vidarte says that "a 15 square metre area is enough to provide energy for the whole house."
The project is still in a process of validation, but in January 2017 the first panels will be ready to install in Sant Cugat del Vallès, where they have convinced the local authorities to carry out a trial. They will also be installed in the Sant Gervasi school in Mollet del Vallès, and even in a number of companies in Austria and Australia.
Accustomed to prizes
The innovation of Bioo has brought them a number of prizes in a very short time, such as the Millor Iniciativa Empresarial from Aijec, the Premi Manuel Arroyo from Emprenedoria en Ciències de la Vida, La Salle Technova Contest, or making the national final of StartupProgramme and presenting the project in the final of Imagine Express in 4 Years From Now of the Mobile World Congress.
Investment and support
"We have done a private investment round with specific companies that not only provide us with money, but also give us technical, development and logistical support, and offer us the use of laboratories," says the Bioo CEO proudly.
While he prefers not to mention the names of these investors, Vidarte does hint at the presence of companies from Australia, California and Saudi Arabia, as well as receiving funding from business angels and some other Spanish firms. In all, they are closing an investment round of some 400,000 euros, and in November they hope to get European funds from the SME Instrument, which would boost their budget to two million euros.
"We have been contacted by royal families from the Middle East and energy companies from all over the world. Yet they are not investors; we are looking for people behind ecological or electrical companies," the young CEO makes it clear. They are confident, as their slogan says, that with them electricity has never been so green.
And the thing is that the Bioo adventure has turned the idea into reality. At the end of the year will begin the distribution of the the first Bioo Lites, a smartphone charger that uses energy from the photosynthesis of plants. It is a product aimed at showing how the technology they have created can be used, and for which they have already had more than 1,000 pre-orders as part of a crowdfunding campaign that raised 118,000 euros in only a few weeks. "The aim of the company was to see how the market would react," says the Bioo CEO.
Who would have thought of getting energy from plants?
"The idea came from some friends trying to find new ways of using solar energy," relates the young man from Seville. After trying out a few ideas with results that "were not very positive", he got the idea of extracting energy directly from plants, "which would be the most natural method." Using a biological battery, the process consists of decomposing the organic material expelled by the plant through its roots, and then capturing electrons to create an electric current. In two weeks he had the first prototype, even though he admits that "it did not produce much." That was almost two years ago.
After having the idea, the project had to be structured, which took place in Barcelona, where Vidarte had come to study Engineering. He already knew Javier Rodríguez, from Huelva, with whom he had studied his Batxillerat, and who was also in Barcelona studying Nanotechnology. "This is where we met Àlex Díaz, a student of Economy who manages the financial side." Vidarte says that "in principle we are still studying," but he admits that his main focus is the company. They are currently renewing their staff and predict that they will have a stable team of nine people in November.
The greenest energy consumption
Although the smartphone charger is attention-grabbing, the aim for Bioo in the long term is to fully develop a metre-long panel to generate energy that can be installed in any garden. "If you have a 100-metre garden, with plants like lawn or lettuce, you could use it," he says. In the case of taller plants, such as trees or bushes, Vidarte says that "a 15 square metre area is enough to provide energy for the whole house."
The project is still in a process of validation, but in January 2017 the first panels will be ready to install in Sant Cugat del Vallès, where they have convinced the local authorities to carry out a trial. They will also be installed in the Sant Gervasi school in Mollet del Vallès, and even in a number of companies in Austria and Australia.
Accustomed to prizes
The innovation of Bioo has brought them a number of prizes in a very short time, such as the Millor Iniciativa Empresarial from Aijec, the Premi Manuel Arroyo from Emprenedoria en Ciències de la Vida, La Salle Technova Contest, or making the national final of StartupProgramme and presenting the project in the final of Imagine Express in 4 Years From Now of the Mobile World Congress.
 |
| Rafael Rebollo (CTO), Pablo Vidarte (CEO) and Javier Rodríguez (COO), young men with energy. Ceded |
Investment and support
"We have done a private investment round with specific companies that not only provide us with money, but also give us technical, development and logistical support, and offer us the use of laboratories," says the Bioo CEO proudly.
While he prefers not to mention the names of these investors, Vidarte does hint at the presence of companies from Australia, California and Saudi Arabia, as well as receiving funding from business angels and some other Spanish firms. In all, they are closing an investment round of some 400,000 euros, and in November they hope to get European funds from the SME Instrument, which would boost their budget to two million euros.
"We have been contacted by royal families from the Middle East and energy companies from all over the world. Yet they are not investors; we are looking for people behind ecological or electrical companies," the young CEO makes it clear. They are confident, as their slogan says, that with them electricity has never been so green.