Recently, BeFC was invited to attend the private alumni gathering for the winning startups of the last years’ Global Startup Competition of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). BeFC was recognised as a winning startup of the international competition for its positive impact on SDG 7 – on Affordable & Clean Energy. We had the honor of being congratulated by Natalia Bayona, UNWTO's Director of Innovation.
As the winner of the SDG Global Startup Competition for its impact on SDG 7 on energy, BeFC was invited to participate in a panel themed on “Reshaping Tomorrow”. Dr. Marie Berthuel, Co-founder and Product/Communication Manager represented BeFC at this discussion moderated by UNWTO and co-organised with Digital Tourism Think Thank. The session focused on the role of the Sustainable Development Goals to Leverage Sustainable Innovation in Tourism. At the alumni gathering, Dr Marie Berthuel spoke about the importance of putting a focus on sustainability at the corporate level, and explained that BeFC is currently working on several fronts to keep advancing SDG7, the other SDGs related to energy and environment while simultaneously making progress on all 17 goals! The objective of this competition and this initiative was to remind the place and the capacity of innovation to propose new solutions to meet the challenges of our time. From climate change to pollution issues... our planet needs a profound change and a real transformation in the way we consume, produce and act.
This desire is the primary motivating reason why our co-founders built this green energy solution for industries. They succeeded in imagining and realising a different product. They came together to combine their expertise in different fields, such as paper, electrochemistry, biochemistry and nanosensors... and they designed a battery made of paper, whose ink is made of enzymes, like saliva or sugar. This ink generates electricity from its reactions with carbon paper and can power several connected objects, as well as a large number of other industries. We have combined this stack with a digital sensing platform, which is able to detect with high precision the evolution of a multitude of factors such as pH, temperature, vital signs... The BeFC solution greatly reduces the environmental impact of industries, as well as their costs, and helps them comply with environmental regulations. BeFC hopes to inspire companies to consider efficient and cost-effective eco-design of their products, to finally make a difference. This innovation is based on decades of research and BeFC's engineers and technicians are constantly working to improve it,and receive the help of different startup accelerators. For example, CITEO, we have conducted tests to demonstrate that the battery can be recycled and that the digital platform will not disrupt the recyclability of our customers' products either.
BeFC employs a multidimensional approach to contribute to the SDGs. At the product level, our innovative biofuel cell was eco-designed to reduce environmental impact, responding to the global environmental challenges. BeFC’s implication goes beyond our product, and we strive to consider the Agenda 2030 in all phases of project management, in our offices, production lines, stakeholder circles, in our region and in our global environment. Our Sustainability Coordinator, Alexandre Bloch, is in charge of incorporating sustainability best practices and specific and measurable goals for each SDG all along our project management and our interactions with our ecosystem. As a young company, we wished to have this approach resulting in a compounding effect from the start to advance the Agenda 2030 and do our part.
For instance, the efforts we put in place to ensure diversity, inclusiveness and parity of people in our teams - SDGs of immense importance to the well-being of companies and employees! earned us selection for NextUp Asia. During this competition organized by La French Tech, the first selection criterion was the diversity of the deeptech startup, and BeFC had the chance to win a business immersion trip to Singapore.
Contact us at info@befc.fr to discuss how BeFC paper biofuel cells can provide a sustainable battery replacement for a range of low-power electronic applications.
Together, power the future with nature. ®
