Paris, France – The Best Microalgae Awards (BμA) association is pleased to announce that the winners and silver medallists for the 2020 edition of the Best Microalgae Awards have been declared. The new industry-supported event aims to bring the very best in terms of innovation in the sector out of the woodwork and usher in better awareness of the value microalgae can provide in tomorrow’s world.
BμA is a new independent non-profit initiative with a global scope, including judges from industry organizations throughout the world such the Algae Foundation and NAXA and operating under the aegis of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA). BμA is an invaluable occasion to acquire a new audience and receive international recognition for microalgae industry innovation.
The Best Microalgae Awards seeks to create an industry stamp of excellence, thus setting a benchmark for integrity in microalgae innovation to establish a more sustainable future for all. The deadline for submissions was Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020.
The Awards attracted over 100 exciting and inspiring entries emerging from 30 different countries across the globe. Participants remarked sharing and discovering new opportunities in the international microalgae industry. Finalists obtained rare feedback on their innovation pitch from a panel of industry experts during a series of judging panels that were held Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020 and Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020.
BμA 2020 consisted of 5 award categories. Applications were invited from organizations and researchers in the following categories:
• The Best Microalgae Game Changer 2020
• The Best Microalgae Upgrader 2020
• The Best Microalgae Wild Card 2020
• The Best Microalgae CSR Initiative 2020
• The Best Microalgae Inclusive Innovation 2020
On Dec. 4, 2020, during the final day of the EABA – European Algae Biomass Association’s annual AlgaEurope conference, the winners and silver medallists of each category presented their unique video pitch to over 150 conference attendees. This year’s conference was in presented in an online format due to COVID restrictions.
The hour-long spotlight presentation provided attendees with a global view of the BμA’s mission, innovators, and take-away lessons from this first edition.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Game Changer Category Winner is Pierre-Alain Hoffmann and Vinh Ly of Kyanos Biotechnologies – France with the submission titled, “Disrupting protein production with microalgae”, for introducing a shift towards a new mindset beyond axenic mixotrophic cultivation through the pioneering
commercial cultivation of AFA.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Game Changer Category Silver Medallist is Ofra Chen of TransAlgae – Israel with the submission titled, “Microalgae-based Covid-19 oral vaccine”, for heralding a new microalgae-based technological platform for oral vaccination.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Upgrader Category Winner is Harshith Sirigeri of GreenBubble Algalworks Pvt Ltd – India with the submission titled, “A new life to the Indian and global spirulina industry”, for achieving extremely low-cost biomass production at scale through relentless focus on cost efficiencies and circular
economy based inputs.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Upgrader Category Silver Medallist is Dr. Fengzheng Gao of Wageningen University & Research – Netherlands with the submission titled, “New super microalgae for fucoxanthin high productivity and winter production”, for showcasing the importance of outcome-oriented strain selection for
the expansion of the microalgae industry.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Wild Card Category Winner is Rita Moto, Paulo Nunes Oliveira, and Matinha Cardoso of Cyano2Heal – Portugal with the submission titled, “Cyano2Heal: a cyanobacterial platform technology for chronic wound healing”, for opening an intriguing and promising new field for microalgae applications in wound treatment.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Wild Card Category Silver Medalist is María Boto Ordóñez and Larissa Arashiro of Clean Colour – Belgium with the submission titled, “Clean Colour: Sustainable printing by transforming waste streams into colourful microalgae pigments”, for materializing a circular economy approach turning wastewater streams into low-persistence ink and dyes for short-term applications.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 CSR Initiative Category Winner is Dr. Simon Tannock of AlgaEnviro – Australia with the submission titled, “Enhancing nature to improve water quality and ecosystem health for water bodies and communities”, for its inexpensive and scalable ecosystem-based solution to pressing environmental issues.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 CSR Initiative Category Silver Medallist is Veramaris® – Netherlands with the submission titled, “Expanding the world’s access to sustainable EPA & DHA Omega-3”, for using microalgae to improve the sustainability of food systems at an unprecedented scale. Oyvind Ihle, Global Marketing Director at
Veramaris®, accepted the award on behalf of the company.
The Best Microalgae Awards 2020 Inclusive Innovation Category Winner is Daniel Arriagada, John Barraza, and Franco Cerdo of Fundación Chile – Chile with the submission titled, “Social and productive model of scallop farming integrating technical colleges, small-scale aquaculturists and a technology center”, for leveraging microalgae to empower depressed coastal communities.
All participants and judges alike remarked the rarity to exchange in such openness with fellow microalgae professionals. They thoroughly enjoyed all feedback and widely expressed their wish to continue such discussions.
The existence of the Best Microalgae Awards is made possible by sponsors, donors, and partners in the industry. This year’s sponsor is the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA). The Best Microalgae Awards team would also like to thank the many industry experts who volunteered their time and expertise to review and judge the various applications.
The Best Microalgae Awards team and all of the judges congratulate the winners and silver medallists for their excellent work in propelling the microalgae industry into the future.
The second edition of the Best Microalgae Awards welcomes all industry professionals. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of the team today to find out how to participate.
For more information, visit bestmicroalgaeawards.org
About Best Microalgae Awards (BμA):
The Best Microalgae Awards is a new non-profit initiative founded in May 2020. Now operating under the aegis of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA), BμA is a neutral and geography-agnostic organization wishing to advance the microalgae field with a “growth through collaboration” strategy. Our aim to act as a catalyst to highlight and reward industry innovation.
