The transformation of macroalgae into biodegradable bioplastic to be used as a low-cost fertilizer in agriculture earned the ALGA BIOTEC project 1st place in BluACT, the program to support the growth of startups in the blue economy, promoted by the Matosinhos City Council, which has as partners UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, Indaqua and Conservas Portugal Norte.
The winners of the fourth edition of BluACT were announced yesterday in a session that took place at the City Hall and was attended by the Councilor for the Environment and Energy Transition, Manuela Álvares, the Business Director of UPTEC, Maria Oliveira, the General Director of INDAQUA Matosinhos, Tiago Fragata, and the director of Conservas Portugal Norte, Rodrigo Souza.
The ALGA BIOTEC project was awarded a prize of 5 thousand euros, offered by INDAQUA Matosinhos, and free participation in the next edition of the UPTEC Startup School.
In second place was the SUSPLUS project - Science Driven platform for carbon neutrality, which focuses on a solution for managing the climate impact of companies.
The SUSPLUS project was also considered the project with the greatest impact on the canning industry, having received a prize of 2500 euros from Conservas Portugal Norte.
In third place was SISMEM, a monitoring and intervention system for marine species that uses Artificial Intelligence to analyze behaviors and environmental conditions.
The top three BluAct winners will also have access to free incubation at UPTEC Mar for one year.
The BluACT final featured the public presentation of the seven finalist projects. In addition to the top three, four more projects were competing. They were: Ecodetect Drone (an autonomous drone that detects, monitors and maps floating trash); SIGESTUR (a platform that optimizes the sustainable management of tourist destinations); 2ndLifeResin (a solution for reusing surfboard manufacturing waste); STOC WISE (an inventory management system using Artificial Intelligence).
