Startup that converts agricultural waste with fermentation wins 4TU Impact Challenge

Team Afterlife consists of six students from Wageningen University & Research who want to revolutionize the food industry by converting the abundant agricultural food waste into a valuable resource. The team's fermentation technology produces a mycoprotein with a neutral taste and colour. According to Afterlife, the 'magic' happens in a bioreactor which means less land and water is needed for the protein source in comparison to plant-derived proteins.

Marisol Calderon and Tim Bongers of Afterlife: "Unbelievable - we didn't expect to win! This is definitely a boost for our self-confidence, we are going to celebrate this victory extensively with the rest of our team and look forward to the future for Afterlife. We would like to thank 4TU, the jury, the audience and the other participants for this amazing opportunity."

Earlier this year, Afterlife won the ReThink Waste Challenge, an international competition that challenged students to reuse waste streams for new materials, valuable products or more efficient production methods.

The final of the 4TU Impact Challenge took place for the fifth time and was hosted on Thursday evening 12 October by Eindhoven University of Technology. Delft-based Geotherm Electric won the audience award. This team helps industrial plants by converting waste heat into electricity. A total of two WUR teams participated: BB&B was also nominated for the Impact Challenge.

The four technical universities in the Netherlands work together in the 4TU.Federation. For the annual Impact Challenge, each university nominates a delegation of two teams that excel in developing technology to solve various societal challenges.