INSIGHTS / News

Bath SETsquared member, Industry Phycology, has secured €2m Horizon 20: 20 funding. 

Horizon 2020 is an EU Research and Innovation funding programme, with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

Industrial Phycology has developed sustainable water recycling and nutrient recovery solution; the ‘I-Phyc’ system uses microalgae at an industrial scale to treat wastewater from agricultural, industrial and municipal sources. The process can be configured to make use of variety of wastewater sources. Algae are able to take up nutrients and minerals from these sources and use them to grow, cleaning effluents in the process. Additionally, algae can take carbon dioxide from industrial sources such as flue gases, boosting growth rates and locking carbon emissions into biomass.

Along with improved effluents, the process recovers material in wastewaters into biomass. Biomass can be sold by operators for a variety of uses; including renewable energy, fertilisers and protein for animal feed.

The funding will enable the company to do what they are doing on a larger scale as well as grow the team. They are looking to recruit for a number of senior positions including bringing technical water industry expertise onboard, which can’t necessarily be found in the UK.

Dan Murray, CEO of Industrial Phycology says: “This is a big opportunity for Industrial Phycology. It will open up new markets, such as industrial effluence, and enable us to secure bigger and better corporate partners.”

70% of the funding will come from the Horizon 20:20 funding programme, with 30% of it coming from industry match funding.