The Start-up Technology Showdown Pitch Competition at Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress 2024
This year, Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress saw five innovative start-ups from the Sustainable Aero Lab program pitching to a panel of judges and attendees, to show why they are the most exciting new sustainable technology for the aviation industry. In each 5 minute presentation, the start-ups showcased their latest projects, technologies, and initiatives, to highlight what’s next for decarbonising the aviation industry.
Pitches were judged on four key elements:
Innovation and maturity – does this technology break the mold, and is it established?
Scalability – can the technology scale, has this been considered in development?
Impact – if applied at scale, how much of a difference could this technology make?
Pitch quality – was the pitch clear, concise, and attention grabbing?
The competition was close, but Sustainable Aviation Futures is thrilled to announce the winner of the competition: Alina Chanaewa, CEO & Co-founder, EddyTec!
Winning pitch: Alina Chanaewa, CEO & Co-founder, EddyTec
Eddytec’s mission is to transform defect detection in carbon fibre composites making it fast, simple and affordable with the goal to facilitate resource efficiency. They have developed a sensing technique based on eddy currents, allowing for identification of various defects in carbon fibre composites. The quality of these complex materials determines their performance, durability and sustainability, and so the technology can also reduce maintenance time in aerospace industry, for example.
Tomislav Lang, Founder, flyv
Flyv are on a quest to redefine flying with on-demand mobility. As populations grow and urbanization intensifies, the demand for travel between decentralized regions is on the rise. Overcrowded roads, strained railways, and congested airports stand as clear indicators of the limitations of conventional public transportation. The expansion of traditional modes of travel struggles to keep pace with this escalating demand, leading to frustrating travel experiences. Flyv offers an efficient and time-saving alternative.
Erdem Kazakli, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Speeder Systems
The story of Speeder Systems started at the University of Southampton where Tadao was testing different ground-effect wings. From the first test to S30 design; the team has tested various prototypes for ground-effect and VTOL flight and optimised the design to fit the mission and the human needs. Speeders are bringing the speed and VTOL capability of a helicopter and amphibious capability together, ensuring lowest cost per delivery in the offshore environment.
Mathias Boesl, Co-Founder, Spark E-Fuels
Spark’s ambition is to reduce the full eco-impact of aviation (CO2 and non-CO2) by producing sustainable and affordable e-fuels at-scale. Spark focuses on the problems of limited availability and high cost of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by developing integrated e-fuel SAF production systems that can be connected to lowest-cost renewable electricity directly. Spark’s technology is based on proprietary load-flexible e-fuels production processes to achieve lowest-cost and scalable e-fuels production.
Dilbar Aliyeva, Chief Marketing Officer Nexus Lab
Nexus is a contrail reduction software company founded in 2022 with a clear goal - to mitigate the greenhouse effect and promote a more sustainable future. By utilizing cutting-edge machine learning techniques on satellite imagery, flight traffic data, and meteorological parameters, they aim to significantly reduce the impact of contrails on the environment.
Sustainable Aviation Futures would like to thank all five pitchers, the excellent judging panel: Jacques-Alexis Verrecchia, Beyond Aero; Patrick Edmond, Altair Advisory; Simon Masters, UK Research & Innovation; and Andy Smith, Loganair, and the host, Mario Vesco, Sustainable Aero Lab.