Glaia, developer of a groundbreaking ‘sugar dot technology’ which boosts a plant’s efficiency at converting sunshine to biomass, has won ‘Deep Tech Investment of the Year’ at the Angel Investment Awards 2022.
Founder, CEO of Glaia receives the DeepTech Award
The deep tech category, sponsored by Digital Catapult, recognises investors and founders that are pioneering deep technologies, such as AI, machine learning and robotics, to achieve fundamental breakthroughs to global challenges.
Glaia, a spinout from the University of Bristol, uses a carbon-based nano-material to create ‘sugar dots’ that when applied to the plant improves the efficiency of photosynthesis; the energy producing process that plants use to fuel their growth. Naturally, less than 1% of the sun’s rays absorbed by plants are turned into biomass.
Sugar-dot technology is yield enhancing
Applying Glaia’s new-generation biostimulants to the roots or leaves could revolutionise the production of staple and horticultural crops. With the team estimating it has potential to increase harvests by as much as 40% without increasing fertilisers.
The sugar-dots are non-toxic, benign to the environment and water soluble, and can be applied directly to the soil, as part of irrigation systems, or via foliar application, which makes them completely compatible with current farming practices.
The team’s inital focus has been hydroponic tomatoes and strawberries, where they estimate the added value could result in a fivefold return on investment for the growers.
Glaia participated in the Agri-TechE GROW business plan competition. This was followed by investment into Glaia from SHAKE Climate Change and Innovate UK which enabled the team to move the concepts out of the lab at the University of Bristol, where the technology was developed, into commercially relevant set ups.