Entrepreneurial ideas ranging from ethanol to herbal teas to biodigestors were shortlisted for this year’s BioVenture business plan challenge at the University of Saskatchewan.
Five finalists were named during a presentation in Saskatoon Sept. 12. A winner, who will be chosen in December, will receive $50,000 in seed money for the enterprise.
The finalists included recent engineering graduates Scott Parry and Brandon Hall, who want to establish an anaerobic biodigestor to transform livestock waste into methane and high-grade fertilizer.
“We have a throwaway lifestyle,” said Parry, who like Hall, grew up on a grain farm in rural Saskatchewan.
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Parry sees economic opportunities in harnessing energy from otherwise wasted products in livestock operations and town lagoons and reducing people’s dependence on the energy grid.
Europe has already embraced such alternative energy sources. Ontario is studying systems like anaerobic digestors that work in the absence of oxygen.
“We have a source being underutilized,” Parry said.
Other finalists are also looking at managing waste. Karthikeyan Narayanan and Zafer Dallal Bashi want to develop a methyl ester biodiesel system that uses waste vegetable oils as a feedstock, and Joel Ahmed proposes building a small-scale ethanol plant supported by community refineries that uses non-food biowaste from agriculture as feedstock.
Other finalists include Oksana Akhova and Melissa Strom, who will use fireweed in herbal teas and seabuckthorn extracts for cosmetics, and Patrick Mah, whose remediation process is intended for use at oil fields and mining sites.
The challenge is a joint venture of the university’s industry liaison office and Saskatchewan Agriculture aimed at accelerating opportunities in the bioeconomy. In its second year, it receives submissions from University of Saskatchewan graduates younger than age 35.
The finalists will spend the fall creating business plans and working with coaches and mentors. They will also be considered for venture capital funding from the Saskatchewan Angel Investors Network.
Last year’s winners were Chris and Rachel Buhler, who are now establishing an aquaponics business, with waste water from the production of tilapia fish used to nourish year round greenhouses growing fresh produce.
In a short presentation, they acknowledged the importance of creating business plans and accessing marketing and financial expertise for a new business.
