BioBoosters - Boosting the circular transition
BioBoosters

Biocompost AB is the winner of Holmen Hackathon

14 December 2023
On December 7-8, Holmen Hackathon took place in Umeå. Four companies participated, developing their ideas with mentors. Holmen appointed Biocompost AB as the winner, and they will now initiate a broader business collaboration. The solution involves incorporating ash into their composting process, as it has been shown to improve the process and enhance the nutritional content of the final product.
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Biocompost’s solution meets Holmen’s need to create value from ash. “We will now proceed to discuss the forms of our future collaboration,” says Marcus Kyrk, project manager at Holmen. He continues, “We are extremely pleased with the opportunity to participate in this hackathon process, and it has been exciting to observe the variety and creativity in the different solutions submitted. Through this process, we have quickly gained a completely new perspective on various opportunities to develop the business in ash and have also created many new contacts.”

“We found it exciting to participate in this hackathon, especially to meet many different people in the field and collectively discuss and develop our idea. Winning feels incredibly fun, and we now look forward to the continued collaboration with Holmen,” says Thomas Storsjö, Biocompost AB.

This summer, BioFuel Region and Holmen Skog AB signed an agreement where Holmen, as the challenge provider, had the opportunity to seek solutions to better utilize the ash generated from the biofuel boilers after the wood drying process in their sawmill. The challenge was launched in September, and through an open call, companies, startups, universities, and others submitted proposals for solutions. Twelve different proposals were submitted, and Holmen chose to work further with four of them, which were developed over approximately four weeks. On December 8, they presented their solutions, and a jury from Holmen then selected the winner.

“This is our first hackathon, and the concept has been successful! We eagerly look forward to next year when a new company gets the chance to be the challenge provider. Please feel free to contact us now if you are interested,” says Eva Fridman, BioFuel Region.

HolmenHackathon is part of the international BioBoosters project, led by Jamk University of Applied Sciences and co-funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. The project brings together nine innovation networks in the bioeconomy sector from countries around the Baltic Sea: Finland, Sweden, the Baltic States, Poland, and Germany. The project organizes 18 Hackathons to support responsible business practices and the transition to a circular economy for bioeconomy companies.