Manufacturing sand batteries, Vietnamese startups join hands to solve global problems

Aiming for the goal of zero emissions by 2050, green startups have emerged in Vietnam. Not only bringing benefits to the environment, green startup projects also create business opportunities towards a sustainable economy .

Notable among them are Buyo and Alternō, two new startups that received support from the startup incubation program of Antler, a global venture capital fund with a Day Zero investment model.

Founded in 2022, startup Buyo aims to solve the problem of plastic waste, which takes over 500 years to decompose and pollutes the environment. Using advanced techniques, Buyo turns bio-waste into biodegradable plastic within a year.

Buyo's bioplastics are made from industrial and agricultural waste such as pulp, bagasse, etc. The product decomposes easily in the natural environment, does not pose risks to human health, and creates added value for the circular economy.

The Buyo team at Antler Vietnam headquarters – one of the early investors in the company's bioplastics project.

According to Buyo, this Vietnamese startup has served customers in markets such as Europe, North America and Asia. Buyo develops products according to the different needs of each customer such as flexible packaging, rigid packaging and medical applications.

Ms. Do Hong Hanh, founder of Buyo, said that Antler's startup incubation program has accelerated the company's business development process. " In just 3 months, we acquired the skills of investment pitching, business planning and product-market fit analysis; from there, we have transformed and grown rapidly. These goals, if done independently, would probably take 6 months or more ."

Similar to Buyo, Alternō is a promising startup that is notable for its innovative efforts in the field of energy storage. The startup has developed a sand battery solution for agriculture, which is one of the pioneers of sand battery solutions in Asia.

The product was created to reduce the environmental impact of lithium mining. Lithium is commonly used to produce traditional batteries, but lithium pollutes the air and soil. In many areas, lithium mining also depletes water resources and affects the lives of local people.

The founding team of startup Alternō in front of the team's innovative sand battery model.

Sand is an abundant and environmentally friendly resource. Alternō’s sand battery system uses an insulated sand container with heat pipes embedded in the sand. When in use, the heat from the sand battery is released through the pipes to serve heating or cooling needs – a need that accounts for 52% of global energy consumption. To date, Alternō’s sand batteries have been deployed in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan.

According to Mr. Ho Viet Hai, one of the co-founders of Alternō: “ The Day Zero investment model has helped us shape the direction of the product, opening the way for sand batteries to be applied in many different fields. On the project Demo Day, the event attracted about 70% of the total number of venture capitalists that we planned to approach. This accelerated our investment approach compared to doing it ourselves .”

Swedish 'Shark' plans to invest in 25 Vietnamese technology startups . Not only investing capital, 'Shark' Erik and the Antler fund will help startup founders find partners and develop business ideas.

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