Wageningen Campus

Showcases Impact Expo: Solynta & No Fairytales 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. #WURImpactExpo Solynta | true potato seeds's mission is to enhance global food security by providing innovative hybrid potato solutions that improve the livelihoods of producers worldwide. We believe in ensuring nutrition for all. Our pioneering breeding method, based on true potato seed, addresses the growing demand for robust, new potato varieties among farmers. This breakthrough guarantees year-round access to clean, high-quality potato starting material, empowering farmers globally to cultivate delicious and nutritious potatoes successfully. Solynta is the first to breed hybrid potatoes from true seeds, offering sustainable solutions to global challenges. Through worldwide collaboration and our cutting-edge technology, we aim to make a significant, lasting impact on the global food supply and envision a future where hybrid potatoes are widely adopted. 🥔 No Fairytales are innovative, health-conscious tortillas made from vegetables, designed to provide a nutritious and delicious alternative to traditional wraps. By incorporating a significant percentage of vegetables like carrots and beets, these wraps offer enhanced nutritional value, including higher fiber content and essential vitamins, while maintaining a low-calorie profile. No Fairytales makes it easy to increase daily vegetable intake without compromising on taste or convenience, supporting a balanced diet and a sustainable lifestyle. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: Greencovery & AlGreen 💡   To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo Greencovery upcycles ingredients that are tasty and good for people and the planet. They are on a mission to reduce food waste and make upcycled ingredients the norm in the food industry. At Greencovery, food will be upcycled that otherwise would be wasted, extracting high-quality, safe and environmentally friendly ingredients that retain their natural functionality. In this way Greencovery enables leading food companies to produce sustainable ingredients from production side-streams, enhancing productivity, reducing waste and lowering carbon emissions. Greencovery accelerates the time-to-market for new, sustainable ingredients, aligning with SDG-2, SDG-9, and SDG-12. 🍽 Algreen B.V. offers services starting from the proprietary collection of microalgae to the production plant. Algreen is capable of working with various cultivation techniques, such as open ponds and tubular photobioreactors, and supports the customer by designing a new process from scratch, conducting R&D lab-scale processes, or optimising an established process. Algreen is working on optimising and scaling up galdieria biomass production. Like spirulina, galdieria can be used as a superfood. However, it is cheaper, easier to grow and even more nutritious as it can convert organic waste into valuable proteins. Galdieria has great potential to improve human health, encourage a transition to a more plant-based diet, reduce energy consumption and make good use of organic waste.  Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: Zwamcijsje & CONVIVIAL CONSERVATION  💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo The savory roll filled with circular, locally grown mushrooms, Het Zwamcijsje, is captivating the Netherlands with its crispy, golden-brown exterior and deliciously tender, juicy interior. Both supporters and skeptics are amazed by how tasty this completely plant-based successor to the traditional sausage roll is. The sausage roll is beloved and deeply ingrained in Dutch food culture. However, as the most environmentally taxing bakery products, it increasingly poses a challenge for food service companies that are modernizing en masse. Het Zwamcijsje offers a solution for a rapidly growing number of businesses due to its fantastic taste and innovative production process, which is logical and sustainable in every aspect. The filling is made from oyster mushroom stems, providing the characteristic bite, even though this part is often wasted due to the complexity of processing it. By using oyster mushrooms as the base for the filling, Het Zwamcijsje is entirely plant-based, with significantly less fat, a lower carbon footprint, reduced water usage, and less arable land required. 🍄 Convivial (literally: ‘living with’) conservation offers a new and integrated approach to understanding and practicing environmental conservation. It is a Whole Earth vision that responds to the major ecological, social and political-economic challenges facing people and biodiversity in the 21st century. Several research projects are ongoing to learn from innovative practices and to support them by providing a vision that unites different struggles in pursuit of a socially and ecologically just conservation.  The idea is to build on promising examples to develop a general conservation model embodying more convivial principles both within these sites and elsewhere. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: SoualiGas & Super-Mendelian microfactories 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo SoualiGas was inspired by the founder's home island of St. Maarten, which has a huge waste management problem. Its landfill is an uncontrolled, dangerous eyesore that frequently catches fire, polluting the air and damaging the environment. The health of the island’s citizens, biodiversity and economy is currently at great risk because of the large amount of waste pollution brought in via tourism activities and the island's reliance on importing its needs.  SoualiGas aims to solve this by empowering not only St. Maarten, but all Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by transforming waste into resources through Advanced Thermochemical Conversion, a process that transforms solid materials into a wide array of valuable products. This technology offers numerous benefits, including high efficiency energy production, transformation of waste into chemical feedstocks, reduced environmental impact, carbon capture and resource recovery. It also provides near-complete waste volume reduction, reduced dependence on fossil fuels and is a versatile system with high adaptability, scalability and a small footprint. By converting waste streams into valuable resources, SoualiGas aims to help SIDS become more resilient to climate change, more future-proof amid global instability and more autonomous, thus empowering local communities and restoring their natural beauty. 🏝 Super-Mendelian microfactories, on the other hand, represent a cutting-edge intersection of genetics, synthetic biology, and biotechnology, offering revolutionary potential for various industries. Their ability to propagate desired traits rapidly and efficiently could transform production systems, though careful consideration of ethical, ecological, and regulatory aspects is essential for their responsible deployment. There are regulatory challenges in approving and overseeing the use of gene drives and other advanced genetic engineering techniques and acceptance of these technologies by the public and stakeholders is crucial. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M 

Showcases Impact Expo: Maxairea & Insectsense 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo maxairea is working on a pilot project at WUR to integrate its CO2 filtration technology into an existing HVAC system.  Co-founder Rabih Hamid, M.Sc (Eng) is very excited about the pilot project; “Maxairea is my third company and my background in engineering and ten years in construction has significantly shaped my entrepreneurial journey.”  Together with Co-founder William Janssen, who has a longtime experience in the ventilation industry and with that build up an extensive network in this industry, Rabih and William are currently working on the commercial validation of Maxairea. For Rabih, the work has focused on the physics of building management and energy efficiency of HVAC systems. 🌐 InsectSense leverages insect biomimicry to develop innovative solutions. By mimicking insect senses, which have evolved over 300 million years, they created devices and biochips that work like insect antenna for flavour measurement, disease diagnosis, water quality monitoring and the development of novel nutraceutical and pharmaceutical ingredients. Initially, they trained bees as biosensors to detect COVID-19, then advanced to a biochip that replicates insect sensing. This biochip works with different DNA from humans and insects, enabling the objective measurement of taste and smell, as well as identifying the health effects of ingredients. For instance, it can identify the cause of off-taste in novel food products, help improve flavour and evaluate potential health effects, all on a single chip. Their first product, ReceptomiX, is a benchtop device for lab-use expected to launch in late 2025. Their second product, LumiNose, applies this biochip technology for field use, such as inline measurements in factories. By use of these technologies, companies can bring sustainable, tasty and healthy products to market more quickly, reducing both time and costs while making a significant impact.  The company’s mission is to develop accessible, cost-effective diagnostic solutions, particularly for low-income countries. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: Wastebook & Afterlife 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx  The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. hashtag #WURImpactExpo Wastebook is a smart waste distribution platform to monitor and manage the impact of waste prevention and reduction digitally. With a team of students, Wastebook wants to support food companies to manage their waste, digitally, with a smart waste and loss distribution platform. Their mission is to revolutionize the waste management industry by prioritizing resource maximization, purifying waste streams, and ensuring the best distribution towards current and market-available valorization treatment technologies. Through waste collection and upstream manufacturing companies, data on food waste and loss in quality is shared, enabling users to find the best economically and environmentally friendly solution to manage waste efficiently. Food waste should not end up in a landfill but should be re-used as much as possible. ♻ Afterlife is a startup aiming to revolutionize global food systems by converting food byproducts into valuable resources through innovative fungal fermentation technology. Addressing current food system inefficiencies and the growing demand for eco-friendly protein sources, Afterlife transforms large volumes of food industry leftovers into versatile, neutral and functional protein ingredients suitable for meat replacers and other applications. Their ground-breaking work earned them the Rethink Waste Challenge 2023 and the Dutch 4TU Impact Challenge 2023. Read more about their wins here: https://lnkd.in/eWE_BRZk Make sure to be there on the 28th of August! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: Hippotainer & ValueSort.AI 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx    The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo Hippotainer is a vertical farm in a 40ft freight container with a Deep Water Culture (DWC) hydroponics system. This makes it possible to grow a variety of plants with the Hippotainer, like lettuce, herbs, seedlings etc. A new design in the making will make growing more vegetables like kale and fruiting vegetables possible. The Hippotainer carefully controls the environmental conditions for optimal plant growth, allowing cultivation at any time, in any location and in any weather. 🌱 A pilot project is running in Ukraine growing vegetables and providing jobs for local refugees in partnership with Rijk Zwaan, Signify, Grow Foam and many more. The team of ValueSort.AI are also ready to share their innovation. ValueSort.AI enables decision makers to develop highly-scalable vision AI for the entire second-hand textiles value chain, transforming the traditional processes with more customization, automation and increased efficiency. Bart van Gorcum, founder of valueSort.AI: “We enable sorters to identify high-value items with AI visual recognitions, removing the challenge of sourcing on-demand quality second-hand textiles, sorters can surpass traditional methods that focus on weight, allowing textile sorters to capitalize on the second-hand textile market’s growth. ValueSort’s technology can assist humans, reducing costs in training humans and increasing revenue”. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Showcases Impact Expo: Afropulse & Green Diligence 💡 To show and celebrate the more than 20 years of entrepreneurship and societal impact by WUR and its partners, a Wageningen Impact Expo is organised on the 28th of August. Read more about this event here: https://lnkd.in/eyWYAiKx The 20 years of entrepreneurship are celebrated with many inspiring examples of start-ups connected to WUR. These cases are situated in different stages of development: from idea generation, to validated propositions and scaling up for societal impact. Today, two of the showcases already get introduced to you. And make sure to keep an eye on the Wageningen Campus page, because more cases will be highlighted. #WURImpactExpo Elisabeth Ofosuah Obengs’ Afropulse, seeks to challenge the status quo and empower African partners to lead the way in research, development, and business creation, achieving more balanced and sustainable food systems. They do this partly by harnessing the power of Africa by offering a highly nutritious and protein-rich ingredient from West African Cowpea Beans. As mediators between continents and cultures, they connect Africa and Europe while partnering with businesses to drive meaningful change. Rethinking Africa's role aims to provoke a paradigm shift in how Africa is perceived and engaged with, bridging cultures and continents by empowering local entrepreneurs. The follow-up on the business idea has already commenced. 🌍 Green Diligence is a sustainability consultancy dedicated to promoting sustainable development in local communities. They assist SMEs who want to measure, report, and improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Their expertise lies in simplifying the complexities of EU sustainability regulations and reporting standards, opening doors to green finance. The longer-term vision of Green Diligence is to develop an AI-driven platform that automates sustainability measurement and reporting, making it even easier for SMEs to embrace sustainable practices and fuel improvements through ESG-based grants and subsidies. The founder Lyubomir Spasov brings a decade of academic and professional experience in environmental issues. His passion for supporting SMEs led him to pitch the idea for the company back in 2018 at the student entrepreneurial challenge StartUp Sussex. Today, Green Diligence is turning that vision into reality, one SME at a time. Make sure to be there on the 28th of August to hear their stories! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRjae4_M #entrepreneurship #innovation

Only two weeks left until the Wageningen Impact Expo! Make sure to register: https://lnkd.in/enXmBDxk Let's celebrate and indulge in more than 20 years of entrepreneurship by WUR on August 28th!

Save the date: Networking at the After Summer Drinks 🥂   The Wageningen Campus Team invites you and your colleagues to have a drink and network with other Campus residents during the After Summer Drinks. Mark this date in your calendar and join!  📅 12 September from 16:00-18:00.  📍 Speakers Corner in Impulse, Stippeneng 2, Wageningen Campus.    You will receive an official invitation to register at the end of August.  Have a great summer and get ready for some drinks in September!