Know Hub Chile portfolio EBCT and three teams from the third edition of Know Hub Ignition win Startup Ciencia 2023

The Ministry of Science’s competition, run through the National Research and Development Agency, awarded CLP 127 million for the development of their technology solutions to Elementum, one of the Know Hub Ignition winning teams in 2020, and to Bioup, Bioproc and Infood Protein, participants in the program’s current edition.

Startup Ciencia, the Ministry of Science’s program run through the National Research and Development Agency, received 247 applications in its 2023 edition, 81 of which were ultimately awarded. Of these, four are science-based startups (EBCTs) that have received support from Know Hub Chile through the Know Hub Ignition program: Elementum, Bioup, Bioproc and Infood Protein.

This initiative, which supports the creation and/or growth of EBCTs and their technical and business validation, provides a grant of up to CLP 127,000,000, plus additional technical and commercial support during the project, access to networks of experts and infrastructure, and access to workshops and training.

Elementum, one of the Know Hub Ignition winning teams in 2020 and also part of the Know Hub Chile portfolio, creates high value-added solvents using artificial intelligence. Originally founded as EcoFuels, it began as an idea in 2015 by two doctoral students at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Universidad de Chile, Ariel Crespo and José Duguet, who sought to create their own experimental design to process plastic waste more efficiently than existing methods. Entrepreneur Moisés Godoy later joined the team.

Meanwhile, among the participants in the third edition of Know Hub Ignition, Infood Protein is developing AI-based software to design insect meals with controlled composition from industrial organic waste for animal nutrition. Bioup, for its part, is developing a plant-based platform for producing recombinant vaccines against relevant pathogens in veterinary medicine, with validation in a canine parvovirus model. And Bioproc is developing a product based on microbial biofilms designed for the removal of contaminants in agricultural wastewater, promoting the circular economy of water in industrial processes.

Thanks to this award, all of these EBCTs will be able to strengthen their capabilities and mature their technologies and business models, along with the opportunity to reinforce their collaboration with key players for a successful entry into and positioning in the industry.

Applications for Startup Ciencia 2024 are open until November 16, 2023, at: https://anid.cl/concursos/startup-ciencia-2024/