[Funding alert] NPHarvest Secures €2.2 Million in Funding

Nordic Foodtech VC led the round, and Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki ry and Stephen Industries also participated. The round comprises of a €900.000 grant from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment's RAKI programme and an equity investment of €1.3 million.

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For the purpose of gathering and recycling nutrients from wastewater, NPHarvest has created a unique hardware solution that will shortly be patented. With the additional funds, NPHarvest plans to construct the first Nutrient Catcher that is suitable for commercial use and can be deployed in the facilities of its clients.

Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen, CEO and founder of NPHarvest said, “Our process is much more energy and cost-efficient and easier to operate than the current solutions. Our end product is ammonia salt, which is commonly used in the fertilizer industry. We are very excited about bringing this technology to the market after years of research and development, bringing sustainable and affordable recycled nutrients and fertilizers to the market,”.

Fertilisers rich in nutrients are essential to ensuring food production. But surplus fertilizers—like nitrogen and phosphorus—leach into the environment through wastewater or agricultural regions' nutrient leaching.

Both result in ground pollution and eutrophication in lakes and oceans, which fuels the growth of weeds and algae, particularly deadly blue-green algae, which eats away at oxygen and kills wildlife. Additionally, wastewater contributes around 5% of greenhouse gas emissions.

All of agriculture's ecology loses out when important nutrients are lost in wastewater. Because fertiliser must be purchased from overseas due to fluctuating prices, self-sufficiency is reduced.

Since farmers prefer to use nutrient-rich manure or mineral fertilisers based on fossil fuels, the inability to eliminate surplus nutrients from the ecosystem will also eventually cause soil contamination. On the other hand, plants may have nutritional deficits as a result of excessive nutrient intake.

Mika Kukkurainen, Partner at Nordic Foodtech VC said, “No one has done nutrient catching on a real commercial level, which made us as foodtech investors impressed with NPHarvest and its unique technology. Ensuring food security while protecting the environment is one of the top priorities in the food system. NPHarvest´s technology has what it takes to combine these aspects in a very interesting business model,”.

About NPHarvest

NPHarvest was established in 2023, is working on developing its initial products that will be put at wastewater management facilities, and has two pending patents. Wastewater management companies, biogas facilities, and livestock farms looking to save expenses, lessen their carbon footprint, or make more money from the sale of recycled fertiliser are their primary clients.