The Final Gala of the Zacznij.biz competition, organized by the Confederation Lewiatan (Konfederacja Lewiatan) and Lewiatan Business Angels, was held on the 4th of March at the Copernicus Science Centre. The winner was AGROBAZALT - a project by scientists from Wroclaw University of Technology.
The purpose of the winning design is the introduction of a new ecological agent, which improves soil properties and stimulates growth of plants - AGROBAZALT. This will be possible thanks to the innovative, patented granulation method of basalt meal - waste produced during the exploitation of basalt. It will fill a market niche in the production of granulated organic fertilizers. AGROBAZALT will find use in ecological farming, horticulture, amateur cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers, as well as in vineyards.
What is more, the production of granulate will eliminate the need to collect and store mining waste. What is important, the product is completely harmless to the environment. The authors assume that the project will gain profit after two years of its implementation. To achieve this objective, they are looking for a capital support in the amount of 1.6 million PLN.
- The entire team consists of employees of our university - says Monika Derkowska-Sitarz, originator of the project and lecturer at the Institute of Mining Engineering at Wroclaw University of Technology. - Education related to the mining and geological studies and experience gained in our professional work allowed us to gain knowledge of the rock mining market in Poland and in the world, as well as of the characteristics of rock and their possible usage.
Competition started in September, 2013. It was aimed primarily at beginners and experienced traders from High Tech sector and Internet industry, as well as at representatives of technical universities, seeking support to transform their research into business ventures.
104 projects were submitted to the contest. In subsequent stages experts from Lewiatan Business Angels supplied participants with the package of knowledge of the substantial aspects related to the business preparations of their ideas and trained their skills of effective presentation to investors. For the final stage of the competition, the jury selected only three finalists, who had the opportunity to present their projects during the Final Gala: AGROBAZALT, LabToolBox (software for managing scientific laboratories) and UBLIKO (platform that matches applications for different mobile devices).
Competition was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy (Ministerstwo Gospodarki), Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (Polska Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości), the National Center for Research and Development (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju) and the Patent Office (Biuro Patentowe). The partners of the competition were: Gdańsk University of Technology, the Silesian University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, the University of Science and Technology, the Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Technology IZTECH (Polska Izba Gospodarcza Zaawansowanych Technologii), Youth Forum Lewiatan (Forum Młodych Lewiatan), Lublin Business Incubator (Inkubator Przedsiębiorczości Lublin), the Association of Polish Inventors and Innovators (Stowarzyszenie Polskich Wynalazców i Racjonalizatorów), Groupon Poland, IAB Poland, AIP Business Link, Tomorrow Consulting, BIG InfoMonitor and Polpharma SA.
The project was co-financed by the European Union funding from the European Regional Development Fund within the Innovative Economy Operational Programme.
Katarzyna Kunka
