Five Environmentally Sustainable Startups Compete for $680,000 Prize

AMSTERDAM, Aug. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Five eco-friendly startups from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Vietnam will compete in the finale of the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, an annual worldwide competition for startups with environmentally sustainable business plans. One of these entrepreneurs will win €500,000 ($680,000 USD) to realize his or her business plan. Another €200,000 ($272,000 USD) will go to one or two runners-up. On Thursday, Sept. 11, finalists Diego Acevedo, Devin Malone, Arthur Kay, Pierre-Yves Cousteau and Trang Tran will present their ideas in Amsterdam before a jury led by Ellen MacArthur, British ex-solo sailor and founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

For the eighth year, the Dutch Postcode Lottery issued a worldwide call for inventions that reduce carbon emissions. The international competition aims to help green startups bring their innovative sustainable products and services to market. This year, the jury received 324 sustainable business plans from 57 different countries. The jury will award the €500,000 ($680,000) grand prize – intended to help the winner bring his or her product to market within two years – at the finale, taking place in Amsterdam. A runner-up prize of €200,000 ($272,000) is available for one or two other promising finalists.

The Finalists

Bio-bean ltd (United Kingdom): Arthur Kay

Arthur Kay is the co-founder of Bio-bean, a company that uses its patented process to upcycle waste coffee grounds into two advanced biofuel products, namely biodiesel and biomass pellets, used for powering buildings and transport systems. Bio-bean is acting in response to the need of the production of clean, cheap and local energy and responsible waste collection and disposal.

Bluerise (The Netherlands): Diego Acevedo 

Diego Acevedo is the co-founder of Bluerise. His company develops a technology that uses temperature differences in the oceans to generate electricity and cooling. Bluerise enables tropical islands and coastal regions to become 100 percent energy-independent and save up to 90 percent on cooling-related electricity use.

Fargreen (Vietnam): Trang Tran

Most of the world's rice is produced in Asia, where the most common method for rice straw waste disposal is burning. This process releases millions of tons of green house gases (GHG) every year. Trang Tran is co-founder of Fargreen, a company that works with local rice farmers to divert the straw from burning and, using Fargreen's technology, use it as a substrate to produce high quality mushrooms. In doing so, Fargreen stops the release of GHG and helps farmers escape poverty, increasing their income by 50 percent.

One Nights Tent (The Netherlands): Devin Malone

Tens of millions of people camp at music festivals annually. But when the music stops, 1 in 4 campers leave their equipment behind as waste. Devin Malone is the co-founder of One Nights Tent, a company that produces recyclable tents. Users pre-purchase their gear online and receive it right on the festival campsite. Afterwards, One Nights Tent recycles or composts anything left behind.

Turbosail (France): Pierre-Yves Cousteau
Pierre-Yves Cousteau is the co-founder of Turbosail™. This company develops an efficient wind propulsion technology for seagoing vessel operators, which is proven to deliver a 30 percent average reduction in fuel consumption as prototype. The Turbosail functions like an airplane wing, creating an aerodynamic power that lifts the vessel and pushes it forward.

Note to the editor:

For more information and photos:

• General: www.greenchallenge.info
• Press room: http://www.greenchallenge.info/index.php/press
• Follow the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge on Twitter and Facebook

For interview requests with the finalists or jury members please contact [email protected]

About the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge
The Dutch Postcode Lottery has held the Green Challenge every year since 2007 as part of its efforts to make the world a greener place. The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, the world's biggest annual sustainable innovation competition, is aimed at creative, innovative thinkers. Every eco-friendly product or service that cuts CO₂ emissions and excels on design, user-friendliness and quality has a chance to win. Entrants submit detailed business plans for consideration by an expert preliminary jury. Previous winners have achieved success with their inventions, in part thanks to the publicity and contacts they obtained through the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. www.greenchallenge.info

The Dutch Postcode Lottery was founded in 1989 to support charitable causes. Today, 2.5 million people in the Netherlands play every year, vying for hundreds of thousands of prizes each month. As they play, they're supporting charitable causes: half the price of each ticket is distributed among 90 charitable organizations. Since the Postcode Lottery's founding, it has donated more than €4 billion (roughly $5 billion USD) to organizations working on behalf of humanity and the natural environment.

For more information please contact:
Monica Belgum
E [email protected]
T (415) 677-2713 

SOURCE Postcode Lottery