Lignopure is the state winner for Hamburg at the KfW Award Gründen 2021.
Since 1998, the KfW Bankengruppe has been honoring companies with the KfW Award Gründen. One company from each German federal state receives the award. This year, Lignopure was the winner for Hamburg and received a 1,000 euro prize. The award was presented at a ceremony in Berlin on the evening of October 28, 2021.
The winners were selected from a total of around 500 applications in a multi-stage process by an experienced jury with representatives from KfW, funding institutions, business, politics and the media. The jury evaluated the business ideas based on their degree of innovation, creativity and assumption of social and ecological responsibility.
Lignopure was founded in Hamburg in 2019 by Joana Gil, Wienke Reynolds and Daniela Arango. They deal with lignin, one of the main components of lignifying plants. It is produced as a byproduct of biorefineries and the paper and pulp industry. Until now, this residual material has been incinerated even though it has valuable properties. The founders have developed a patented particle technology to process the industrial byproduct lignin for use in cosmetic products.
This would replace fossil plastics and other harmful ingredients. The “LignoBase” powder marketed by Lignopure can be used in a variety of ways as an SPF booster, an antioxidant booster, a natural color, a fat binder and a filler. In cosmetic products, for example, it can replace the microplastics often found in these products. LignoBase can be customized to meet individual customer needs. The increased use of the natural raw material lignin makes it possible to increase the range of sustainable products available to consumers.
Joana Gil: “Our mission is clear: we want to provide sustainable, multifunctional and bio-based ingredients for better and healthier products. In doing so, we can protect the environment as well as end consumers, for whom many traditional ingredients are also harmful. We are very pleased that the KfW Award Gründen recognizes our goals and honors them with a prize.”
Source and complete article:
https://www.hamburg-startups.net/quickies/page/2/