The problem we're solving

We aim to intercept agricultural nutrient runoff before it can create dangerous algal blooms, and use the plant biomass grown from these nutrients for carbon capture and storage as well as sequestration and disposal of incidental pollutants. Our solution also uses recycled plastic as a fabrication material, creating a useful nontoxic "sink" for the large global pool of plastic waste that is currently not recycled.

Our solution

We are working on prototypes of a modular, customizable on-demand system that deploys Azolla fern cultures to intercept waste nutrients and other pollutants in wastewater, and then harvests the final Azolla biomass for a range of eco-friendly end-uses (eg. carbon sequestration as biochar, a solid medium for hazardous pollutant disposal, phosphorus recovery, etc). We are also performing assays to confirm novel pollutant uptake by Azolla in order to create broader demand and rationale for Azolla-based environmental remediation.

Our differentiator

Most uses of Azolla aim to cultivate the plant as a green manure fertilizer or animal feed, pathways which ultimately allow the plant biomass to decay and release greenhouse gases, and so cannot provide carbon sequestration. Our solution pioneers a new space / paradigm of containing Azolla cultures as a fast-growing "wastewater crop" which can be deliberately cultivated for the end use of durable carbon and pollutant capture.

Biggest Achievement

Our startup's design for using Azolla to intercept agricultural waste runoff has been recognized by the Musk Foundation and Xprize Carbon Removal competition, in which we were named as a Phase One Qualifying Team among thousands of competitors earlier this year. Also, the research affiliate arm of our group has now conducted groundbreaking and confidential research that confirms Azolla's ability to sequester new and very important pollutants.