- Danish company world champion in cleantech
- In November, the Danish entrepreneurial Abeo A/S was awarded the "world champion in cleantech" in the “Global Cleantech Open Ideas Competition” in Silicon Valley, USA. Abeo entered the competition with pioneering, lightweight concrete, which must now be marketed internationally.
It is no more than five months ago that Abeo A/S, by the help of
Alexander Wulff, Mads Løntoft and Peter Hertz, saw the light of
day. Abeo's product is called Super-Light Structures and is a
concrete product that combines a core of 'strong' concrete with a
shell of light concrete on the outside for support. This ensures a
strong and maintenance-free product like concrete, but it is more
energy efficient, cheaper to produce and lighter than steel.
Super-Light Structures is developed by a professor Kristian Hertz
at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and via his son Peter
and his two classmates it has been commercialised. In the beginning
of November, this resulted in a first place in the Danish
championship in cleantech and now they have won the world
championship.
- We got a heads up on it from Kristian who saw a lot of potential
in the product. After getting the green light from DTU, we started
to lay the foundation for the company, among other things by
getting the first investment in place from SEED Capital. It is a
great example of how a professor in concrete with a good idea has
limits in regards to the realm of business. In these situations,
people with our background can step in and help. Such
collaborations can certainly provide excellent synergies, Mads
Løntoft explains.
Great expectations
Until the summer 2011, the three founders are officially
students in International Business at Copenhagen Business School.
However, during the past months, the company has required
significantly more time than the founders' course work. Super-Light
Structures has already been well received both in Denmark and
abroad - especially in the US after Abeo won the world championship
here. And Abeo work closely with internationally renowned companies
such as consulting giant Grontmij|Carl Bro and the award-winning
Danish architect Bjarke Ingels' company BIG, which has employed a
PhD student to work on lightweight structures in buildings. The
coming years definitely look promising for the three
entrepreneurs.
- We have been extremely well received in the industry and the
award is a huge honour. We have great expectations for the coming
year, but through demonstration projects, we still have to prove
that the technology can be used in practice. We expect to
accomplish that in 2011, Mads Løntoft says.
Facts about Super-Light Structures:
Material-and weight savings on the carcass of up to 50
percent.
Energy and CO2 saving of up to 50 percent.
No need for scaffolding and faster production
Read more about Abeo A/S at www.abeo.dk
