We held Nordic Camp for the fifth time this spring. The event is always very appreciated and this year was no exception. Read more about the camp in this article.

We are very proud to present the top 25 Nordic Cleantech Open companies 2015/16. Out of the 113 applicants our competent jury chose these ones as the very best. That really says a lot of the qualities of these companies! See the great comapanies and read about their great innovations below or read more in the pressrelease (Swedish pressrease here):

Abalonyx
Norway
Abalonyx is a leading producer of Graphene Oxide. Graphene oxide has unique selectivity for certain heavy metals and radionuclides. The company is now building technology related to graphene oxide based water treatment processes, such as an environmentally friendly flocculate to facilitate separation. The pilot customer is a company currently treating water contaminated with radionuclides from North Sea oil- and gas activities.

Againity
Sweden
Againity has developed a cost-effective heat-to-electricity solution for renewable, yet weather independent, electricity production. The heat source can be anything from a garbage or wood chip boiler or incinerated landfill gas, to hot water from solar panels or industrial waste heat. The system is based on a refined technology based on the Organic Rankine Cycle and thanks to innovative components and materials, the system has a long lifetime, low operating costs and a quick payback time.

Arctus Metals
Iceland
Arctus Metals is developing an environmentally friendly and energy efficient process for production of aluminium. As no carbon anodes are used as in conventional aluminium process there is no emissions of carbon dioxide, instead one ton of oxygen is generated for each ton of aluminium produced. The process also uses 20% less energy and 60% less space. Artcus Metals is in the final stage to reach proof of concept of the new revolutionary and patented aluminium production technology.

Ascatron
Sweden
Ascatron develop next generation SiC based power semiconductors that radically reduce losses in electrical transformers. These can be up to 20% using conventional silicon devices. To make the most efficient and reliable SiC power devices is Ascatron using a unique material technology based on 3D epitaxy enabling us to increase the doping level to reduce the resistance in the device 3DSiC®.

Cewatech
Sweden
Global marine overfishing and declining catches (Nature communic. 2016) increase the urgency of finding sustainable alternatives to fishmeal in fish feed for fish farming. Cewatech has achieved this by cultivating edible micro-fungi on side-streams from industrial production. When fishmeal was replaced by equal quantities of fungal biomass in feed, salmonid fishes grew as well or better. The Cewatech fungal biomass is a sustainable, price-competitive alternative to fishmeal in fish feed.

Desert Control
Norway
Desert Control converts deserts into fertile land in a process that only takes 7 hours. They mix clay and water in a patented mixing process and apply it to the land using traditional irrigation methods. Once an area has been treated, percolation is almost stopped and evaporation is greatly reduced, so only ½ to 1/3 of the irrigation water is needed, compared to untreated areas.

Energeotek
Sweden
Energeotek presents how the world can have renewable clean baseload energy 24/7/365 virtually anywhere! Energeotek’s system solution NxGeo benefits from earth’s low temperature ground heat and converts it to clean electricity, heating and cooling. Energeotek now offers initial NxGeo power plant projects and plans to join forces with larger investors, stakeholders and industrial partners to setup NxGeo power clusters. Energeotek offers pure power to the global renewable energy transition process.

EyeCular Technologies
Denmark
EyeCular Technologies has developed a highly innovative product which is able to build and maintain thermal stratification in hot water tanks. Especially in heat pump applications and solar thermal systems, the energy consumed for heating water can be significantly reduced by enabling thermal stratification. EyeCular’s product is inexpensive, more reliable and easier to install than the few existing competitors on the market.

FaunaPhotonics
Denmark
The use of laser radar systems enables FaunaPhotonics to perform real-time on-going surveys of insects in the field. The laser radar product can monitor approx. 10.000 insects / hour / m3 of air. A transformative new tool that offers tangible benefits to the agricultural sector and insect control programs enabling the capacity to routinely collect, analyse, interpret and share reliable real-time data on insect populations.

Forsnetics
Sweden
Forsnetics has developed magnetic thrust bearings for hydropower. They utilize magnetic fields dynamically to carry the weight of the generators and the water load. This technology reduces the friction losses up to 80%. The increase in efficiency is enough to cover the price of the equipment during its lifetime. However, the main economical driver to install the solution is increased reliability, as the technology eliminates thrust bearing failures.

Fresh.Land
Denmark
Fresh.Land digitize the food supply chain. The B2B platform connects farmers and retailers, cutting out the middlemen and reducing CO2 emissions and chemical use. The solution uses technology to make the food supply chain efficient and transparent. With Fresh.Land, farmers, retailers, and logistical partners can interact in one platform. They all get better prices and drastically reduce the searching and transaction costs. Only the middlemen lose out.

Infinited Fiber Company
Finland
Inifinited Fiber Company enables re-manufacturing of new natural fibres for new clothing from textile waste. There is no other solution on the market for manufacturing new fibres from textile waste. The technology also enables extending the pulp and dissolving mills’ value chain by manufacturing a cellulose derivate. This will significantly cut the costs and increase sustainability in viscose manufacturing.

Innoscentia
Sweden
Innoscentia provides a printable gas sensing technology that can visualize and electronically tell the status of the food. The printable sensing ink undergoes a colour change from i.e. green to red once the product is spoiled. The changes in the electrical properties provides the possibility to detect spoiled food wirelessly trough the supply chain increasing both food safety and traceability for actors within the food supply chain.

LunaLEC
Sweden
LunaLEC develops thin and flexible light sources that will require less energy in manufacturing and will be made without metals and thus can be recycled like plastic when disposed. The intended use is not yet general lighting, but rather functional lighting. Typical applications are medtech patches, where light patches are used for treatment of a number of symptoms.

Minut
Sweden
Minut creates connected sensors to understand the environment in a room or area – including mapping PM2.5. This is possible with the use of the company´s unique sensor. This sensor will be given to individuals as a way to measure their exposure. Minut is optimistic about how a transparent view of PM2.5 around the world can support efforts to reduce this pollution.

Ngenic
Sweden
The Ngenic system adapt to the thermodynamic individual household and increase the efficiency of the heating system. At the same time as it achieves a better, more even, indoor climate the system enables a collaborative demand response and easier inclusion of renewable energy sources into the grid. The hardware are compatible with most existing heating systems.

ReLaDe
Estonia
ReLaDe is developing a system that uses biological washing enzymes that are coupled with magnetic nanoparticles as the laundry-washing agent. This enables recollection of the washing agent from the washing machine wastewater by a simple device composed of magnets. Binding enzymes to nanoparticles eliminates their downsides as they become reusable and the enzyme stability is increased.

Sani Membranes
Denmark
Sani Membranes is producing advanced cross flow membrane filter elements. The elements are based on present membrane and fine filters, but designed for improved energy efficiency – saving 30-60% of energy in very energy intense processes. At the same time, the process and sanitary aspects are very much improved. The filters are suitable for process industry, food & beverage, water, water reuse and for wastewater purification.

SBT Aqua
Denmark
SBT Aqua is developing a real-time bacteria sensor that significantly improves quality control of drinking water. The sensor can detect bacteria and non-organic particles in real-time and increases the sampling frequency from weeks to minutes ensuring that contamination events are discovered by the utility and not by ill and dissatisfied citizens.

Sensative
Sweden
Sensative have developed Strips, an ultra-thin (less than 3mm thick) magnetic sensor, that can be mounted invisibly in most window & doors. Strips comes with an adhesive layer which makes it easy to set up and has a battery life up to 10 years! Strips is Z-Wave Plus certified, which enables Strips to be connected to any Z-Wave Smart home system.

Toroidion
Finland
Toroidion has developed an innovative electric powertrain with a new type of electric motor. The new lightweight direct drive electric motors are significantly safer and more service friendly than current alternatives. The technology is also extremely energy efficient and robust and allows for easy battery upgrades.

Trifilon
Sweden
Trifilon develops and produces the lightest, most rugged biocomposites for high performance applications. Our optimized biocomposites are purpose engineered for conventional injection moulding and compression moulding equipment.  Cut weight, improve sound absorption and minimize your product’s environmental impact without changing equipment or tooling.

TRINE
Sweden
TRINE aims at providing the 1.3 billion people living in energy poverty with access to solar energy. This will be done using local solar entrepreneurs and financed using their crowdinvesting platform. Combining crowdinvesting with commodity solar PV components and novel financing structures creates an innovative business model with massive potential.

TychoBio
Denmark
TychoBio applies powerful tools from Synthetic Biology to optimize and commercialize moss as an efficient production host for small chemical compounds. The method can potentially produce hundreds of different high-value compounds. Initial focus will be on a class of compounds called terpenoids, high-value compounds used in food, cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry.

Uniti
Sweden
Uniti is an electric city car with two seats in tandem and a ‘sci-fi’ design. With an uncompromising focus on sustainability, Uniti goes beyond the power source to consider the entire environmental impact of the venture, from materials and engineering logic, to business practices and IPR policy. Openness and transparency are of utmost importance, as is harnessing the collective intelligence and passion of the crowd. Designed for high performance in urban settings, Uniti aims to redefine the user experience of vehicles from ‘controlling a bunch of horses under the hood’ to ‘piloting a street spaceship’. #teamuniti

Cleantech Scandinavia Top-25 startups are better startups We have the proff! Another indication is the news we just recived from Nordic Power Convertors:

With the $2M investment secured during the summer, Nordic Power Converters have shifted a gear or two up. The company have entered the first contract to deliver 50.000 LED drivers to HeSaLight. The team have expanded to 11 full time employees that are now working hard to get the first product out.

Nordic Power Convertors were the no.1 winner of last round of Nordic Cleantech Open.

Cleantech Scandinavia Top-25 startups are better startups We have the proff! Another indication is the news we just recived from Fourdeg:

1.       Fourdeg financing round is now completed. Fourdeg raised 250 000 € private financing from Finnish venture capitalist and business angels on Oct 21st 2015. After the successful piloting period during winter 2014/2015 the raised financing will now enable Fourdeg to start shipping the pre-orders to customers and further develop the business in Scandinavia.
2.       Fourdeg has won two major startup events during 2015. On October 23rd 2015 Fourdeg won KasvuOpen startup growth planning competition among over 300 startups in Jyväskylä Finland. On May 27th 2015 Fourdeg won the Arctic15 pitching competition in Helsinki Finland.

Fourdeg is Espoo Finland based smart heating startup making better quality heating with less energy, currently specializing on district heating. The solution is based on internet of things architecture and smart energy efficiency algorithms cloud software.

When we talk to entrepreneurs and tell them the benefits of applying to Nordic Cleantech Open we often hear that it sounds all great but they do not have the time to enter all these competitions. This is why we think it makes sense to join forces with other initiatives. This year we join forces with non-less than the WWF Climate Solver initiative. Climatesolver.org is a climate innovations portal developed by WWF. The objective is to strengthen the development and to increase the use of transformative technologies, which have a great potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase energy access around the globe. All Nordic Cleantech Open applicants from Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway now have the opportunity to also become WWF Climate Solver entrepreneurs 2016 with the same application.

• Yes that is correct, by applying to the Nordic Cleantech Open you also apply to WWF Climate Solvers if you are eligible!

We are very happy about this solution and think it will strengthen both initiatives and, more importantly, make things easier for the entrepreneurs.

Already last year we cooperated with Malmö Cleantech City Award and this cooperation continues. The Jury for this years Malmö Cleantech City Award includes most important real estate actors in southern Sweden and again: It is the same application!

This means that by applying to Nordic Cleantech Open you also, if eligible, apply to both these two great initiatives.

We are very proud and honoured to have set up cooperation with WWF Climate Solvers and it feels great to be able to include the panda logo in our communication from now on.

We have now opened applications for the fifth round of Nordic Cleantech Open. Applicants are wellcome,

First prize winner of the fourth year of Nordic Cleantech Open is Nordic Power Converters who’s technology cuts the size of a power converters to a fifth and the cost in half while increasing lifespan 2-5 times. The company’s first focus will be on better LED power converters, where the products will be on the market by the start of 2016. Second prize-winner is RecondOil. The company offers a closed loop that makes it is possible to extend the life of lube oil almost endlessly. This enables the same oil to be sold over and over again, in a fully circular economy. Winner of the third prize is Wirepas that is all about uncompromised low power wireless networking for connecting things. It is a solution enabling reliable and deterministic performance with scale up to millions of nodes without regression.

Download the press release here, press release in Swedish here.

We would like to congratulate Disruptive Materials and Orbital Systems as they are on this years edition of the top 33 list of hot new Swedish technology companies that was published today.

For new Swedish technology companies the most well known top list to be on is unfortunately not the Nordic Cleantech Open top 25 (we are working on it but not there yet). Instead the most spread and well known list is the top 33 published by Ny Teknik and Affärsvärlden. On the latest issue of this list published yesterday you find both Disruptive Materials and Orbital Systems that were on the Nordic Cleantech Open top 25 list 2013/14.

Other exciting clantech companies at the new top 33 list are:

Chargestorm

Climeon

Exeger

Ifoodbag

Metasphere

SimrisAlg