Three winners at BioBoosters' LiukasHackathon: Developing recycled nutrient logistics through combined digitalisation expertise and international partnership

The international LiukasHackathon innovation competition sought an smart logistics solution for the transport of recycled nutrients. Three winners with complementing solutions were named in the competition. Proposals for the combined solution will be piloted in cooperation with Kuljetus Tero Liukas Oy at the beginning of 2025, and the goal is to build an entity that will revolutionise the entire field of operations, if successful. 

“It was not worth selecting a single winner, because combining the solutions of three of the teams involved in the competition will create a truly impressive solution,” says CEO Tero Liukas. ”With its innovative idea and technology, the Polish Aiseemo opens up new, previously unrecognised opportunities for the industry. Similarly, the logistic system of the Polish Freight Automation by Hogs and the Estonian Waybiller’s solutions for collecting and utilising data, such as from electronic waybills, contribute elements to the overall solution that can be utilised together.” 

The winners were very happy with LiukasHackathon: “The discussion that took place during the Hackathon process on the Howspace platform, as well as the information shared there, was really important in honing the ideas. It was great how Kuljetus Tero Liukas Oy’s representatives were answering questions on a daily basis. During the process, we also identified opportunities for collaboration that we might have started to promote even without winning the race,” say Michal Grega (Aiseemo), Pawel Pisarski (Freight Automation by Hogs) and Kert Kaspar Tammaru (Waybiller).  

In addition to the winners, Seth Software from Poland and Agrolinera from Spain participated in the final stretch of the LiukasHackathon. International mentors joined in from Lithuania, Poland, Estonia and Sweden. All in all, the open innovation dialogue connected specialists from six countries.  

“We are really impressed with how LiukasHackathon got international teams to participate in the competition.There is a wider need for the solution to be developed both domestically and internationally, so it is great that the solution brings together experts from different countries”, says Minna Lappalainen, Director of the Bioeconomy Institute at JAMK University of Applied Sciences, one of the competition’s mentors.“Hackathons are also an excellent opportunity for us to show what Jamk can offer to hackathon participants, clients and others who develop business and solutions: expert services, networks and amazing testing environments in laboratories and on the Bioeconomy Campus.”

LiukasHackathon was organised by BioBoosters, a smart agriculture innovation and competence cluster of Jamk University of Applied Sciences, together with Kuljetus Tero Liukas Oy and the Finnish Biocycle and Biogas Association. The hackathon culminated on 25.-26.11.2024, when the work of the teams was mentored by experts in business, innovation, digitalisation and startup development from Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Estonia and Finland. 

The work with the winning teams now continues in the scope of a development project co-funded by National Nutrient Recycling Experimentation Program. The development project is set to launch in February and to be completed by the end of 2025. Market demand for the developed solution is anticipated in Finland and internationally as the biogas production capacity is multiplying in e.g. many Nordic countries.  

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