A biotech start-up founded by Strathclyde Business School graduates to repurpose coffee grounds has received investment of more than £375,000.
Glasgow-based Revive Eco is creating palm oil alternatives from used coffee grounds for the food & drink and cosmetics industries.
Co-founders Fergus Moore and Scott Kennedy launched the green tech startup in 2019 when they were doing their undergraduate degree at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and both worked in coffee shops at the time.
In a latest funding round led by Gabriel Investment Syndicate and which included the University of Strathclyde’s Strathclyde Inspire Entrepreneurs Fund, Scottish Enterprise, Crowd Cube and private investors, Revive Eco received £376,000 to commercialise a patent pending process to recycle coffee grounds into a sustainable palm oil alternative.
Their innovative idea is to collect and repurpose used coffee grounds to save some of the estimated 500,000 tonnes of coffee waste that is sent to landfill every year, with the waste used to create innovative products.
Revive Eco extracts high-value, natural chemicals from the coffee grounds to create a palm oil alternative that can be used across the cosmetics, home cleaning, pharmaceutical, and food and drink sectors. Approximately 70 million tonnes of palm oil, which is found in many household products, are produced annually, with its production being one of the main drivers of deforestation and carbon emissions globally.
The investment round, in which the University of Strathclyde and Scottish Enterprise also participated, will support the company as it looks to grow its team, including by adding engineering expertise, and scale up its manufacturing capability.
Fergus Moore, Co-founder, Revive Eco, said, “With the support of our investors, we can progress our mission to make coffee the most sustainable commodity on the planet, and move our production from the lab to industrial scale.”
University of Strathclyde Investment Manager Anne Henderson, said, “We are proud to have supported Revive Eco through Strathclyde Inspire, from helping the company to research and grow their initial idea to providing early stage funds to enable the business to bring the investment deal together, through to securing investment from the Strathclyde Inspire Entrepreneurs Fund alongside our investment partners.
“The technology being developed by Revive Eco will play an important role in Scotland’s drive towards a net zero carbon emissions economy and exemplifies our mission at Strathclyde to create innovative solutions to real world problems.
“The University is committed to supporting entrepreneurs from the outset and onwards and we look forward to continuing that support as the company enters the next stage of its exciting journey.”
Revive Eco is set to begin trials with a number of big brands in the UK and across Europe and also recently appointed former Archangels CEO John Waddell as Chair.
He said, “Fergus and Scott have an absolute passion for the business, and when you match that with a significant international market opportunity which will also address the global climate challenge, the prospects for the company are very exciting.”