Get to know ACE startup founders & find out what drives them!

The ACE-List: We are proud and excited to introduce our awesome startup founders. The ACE-List is a regular installment where startup teams from the ACE Incubation Program introduce themselves and share a little insight into their startup journey!

Meet the founders!

Name(s): Erdni Batyrev and Shiju Raveendran
Company: Breeze
Industry: CO2 chemicals
Founded in: 2019

How did you come up with your startup idea?

We want to make a contribution to the environmental issue of CO2 emission with a CO2 conversion process developed at UvA. Dr. Shiju (UvA) and Dr. Batyrev (Tata Steel R&D) believe in CO2 gas as an alternative energy source in the near future from large industrial emitters at the spot since there is no a affordable technology to use CO2 directly from the air.

What is your company’s unique proposition?

An unique proposition of “breeze” is the CO2 conversion process that has a high potential to use emitted CO2 at industrial scale of millions tons/year, as a replacement of fossil sources, while using the industry for its own products (energy, steel, transport) and benefit from making the high value chemicals. Moreover the companies will benefit from reduced CO2 taxes while transforming the conventional industry to sustainable industry. It is a win-win situation for the industries and the environment.

What has been your ACE moment?

You are learning steadily through the trainings and meetings at ACE, so in our case it is a continuous process rather than a moment of Eureka.

What has the shift from academia to entrepreneurship been like for you

It is a mindset that you develop when you study natural sciences where physics is the most tangible in practice.

What is the best advice you could give someone who wants to start their own business?

Just do it!

What are your next steps for the coming months/half year?

Secure funding and upscale.