A great step to internationalization has been made with the international incubator Hagenberg which is initiated by Softwarpark Hagenberg and tech2b, the high-tech business incubator in Linz, Austria.

The offer is aimed at IT professionals from around the world with innovative ideas who want to establish a company in the Softwarepark Hagenberg. With the support of Upper Austrian government and regional bank Raiffeisenlandesbank an area in the Softwarepark with necessary infrastructure has been established to support innovative startups. Additionally, the incubator program offers equity capital for the development and marketing of the product in the first years.

An expert board will determine which project and business ides in the incubator should be pursued. The active support will be carried out by tech2b, the high-tech business incubator by using a new incubation process to prepare startups for their international market positioning.

Interview with Greentech founder Alexander Krajete. A new startup at the tech2b high-tech business incubation program.

Founder: Dr. Alexander Krajete

Industry segment: white biotechnology,  renewable energy, waste gas / waste management

Market: 1. Europe, 2. USA, 3. Asia

Competition: Carbon Capture Storage (CCS), biogas plants (also collaborators)

Product: GreenTech specializes in the development of a biotech process for the direct conversion of waste gases to a gaseous energy carrier. The business model ist based on technical consulting and process development in an early and medium stage. Plant design, construction and operation will be carried out by other partners.

Interview

How did you come up with the business idea?

The inspiration came suddenly during my employment in Norway on a Sunday morning in April 2007. In Chemical Engineering News, I read an article entitled ‘From Waste to Energy’, describing a company from New Zealand which uses genetically modified microbes from the company Genentech for the conversion of waste gas from steel industry to bioethanol.

As a postdoc at UC Berkeley, I gained experience in CO2 chemisty, Genentech from South San Francisco happened to be the first company to call me for an interview. I started to combine the pieces ‘CO2, Genentech, energy’, and I came up with the approach to convert waste gases to methane.

What is special about your new product?

The intention to develop and upscale a process for the converstion of waste gases to methane is new. Other biological processes as for instance fermentation in biogas plants utilize a solid / liquid raw material. GreenTech’s novel process produces a gaseous energy carrier exclusively from emission gases. GreenTech’s process has higher conversion rates due to accelerated kinetics.

What impact will your product have on the market?

The process converts waste gases like CO2 and other components. We generate value from waste which is directly linked to an increase of energy efficiency. At a later stage, we intend to combine the novel process with renewable electricity which would allow the storage of solar and wind electricity.

What do you think will be the opinion of the competition?

The acceptance of the novel technology clearly correlates with the country’s resources. The idea was originallly developed in Norway which is rich in oil and gas. The support for the novel approach was rather limited though. The situation was different in Austria and Germany. People listened enthusiastically to the novel approach, now we witness a huge support. This was one of the main reasons which made me return back to Austria after more than 5 years spent in USA and Norway.

The novel technology will be placed in a new market, I therefore see rather cooperation opportunities than  competition.

What is the future of your company?

We intend to found the company in Linz, Austria which has an amazing accompanying infrastructure in mechanical, electrical engineering and automation. Biotechnology will be a novel industry in this part of Europe. Interestingly, potential customers can be found in this region, as well.

Currently, we are designing a prototype reactor for industrial applications, the process data are being evaluated in the USA.

After completion of the engineering work, the reactor will be tested under real life conditions with industrial waste gas. In case the pilot reactor passes the validation test, we will proceed with production in big scale for the European market.

To create more room for new teams a joint action of startups and business coaches helped to transport a large number of furniture to the new offices. Many helping hands were coordinated by Nadja in order to get all the heavy packages safe in the second floor. This action showed once again the commitment and the spirit within tech2b.

By the way, more room could be necessary after receiving more teams in the incubation program. A lot of new start-ups and high-tech ideas are in the starting blocks to apply for the program

Three new startup teams are part of the incubation program at tech2b after paasing the technology commission. Each team is working in different technology field. One concentrates on green tech, the others more on IT related topics with a time tracking software as well as an interactive sensors located system.

After the great success of  Summer Academy 2008 a further event called Winter Academy 2009 will be organized in March 2009 in cooperation with tech2b. The event is part of the Entrepreneurs Academy which concentrates on national as well as international business preparation.

In various workshops participants will learn and experience issues such as…

• International entrepreneurship: scaling up your business (English-speaking pitch, expanded business model, an overview of and dealing with international investors to optimize the yield model)
• Team building and team stability
• Train your presentation style, discussion and negotiation tactics
• Presenting to investors roundtables

In autumn 2009 tech2b starts with a new concept of tech2b Awards. We will present detailed information on our website september 2009.