How to effectively reduce contaminants and viruses in the air? What will help to ensure that contaminants do not just move mechanically, as with conventional filtration equipment?
The solution is offered by the PURITY THROUGH MINERALIZATION project. This project is the result of many years of cooperation of the innovative company IQ CAPITAL, s.r.o. and academic sector - Technical University in Košice and Comenius University in Bratislava.
The main idea of the cutting-edge project is the degradation of viruses and pathogens at the molecular level up to the mineralization phase, thus creating new "pure" air molecules. This solution creates completely new technological processes based on the effective synergy of several processes in an innovative reactor, which can be used in many other areas. The key aspects of the efficiency of the whole solution are the effective synergy of cold plasma and photocatalysis in the real environment - without the production of ozone and other undesirable gases or substances.
We started the cooperation with IQ CAPITAL, s.r.o. in 2019, when the world was already affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was still in the research and development phase at that time (TRL 4-5 - "technology validated in the relevant environment"). The deep-technological principle was thus verified and began to be transformed into specific products that could be placed on the market.
As the project dealt with revolutionary innovation and its impact was clearly identified as multinational, we chose the EIC Accelerator grant scheme. The crucial goal of the EIC Accelerator is to identify and support breakthrough technologies and changes in innovation with the potential to spread internationally and become a market leader. It supports all phases of innovation, from research and development of scientific foundations, through the validation and demonstration of breakthrough technologies and innovations, to the development and expansion of start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The grant application for EIC Accelerator consists of two phases:
- short proposal (project concept)
- full proposal (after evaluation of "GO" short proposal)
We submitted a short proposal through the European Funding and Tender Portal, which directed us to an IT platform based on the artificial intelligence Al platform.
The short proposal consisted of:
- 5-page form where the proposal had to be summarized and a set of questions related to the proposed innovation, potential market and project team had to be answered
- a short presentation of the intention and the company in the range of up to 10 slides according to the required format
- a 3-minute video where the main members of the project team presented and described their motivation for applying for an EIC grant.
https://www.balteus.international/slovak-company-succeeded-in-the-first-round-of-eic-accelerator/
After receiving the "GO" result of the short proposal, we are already preparing a full project proposal for EIC = IDEOLOGY | DEVELOPMENT GO to MARKET |
The technology and products are currently being presented in the Slovak pavilion at EXPO Dubai 2021. The whole team is already working to ensure that EXPO Dubai 2021 is not the highlight of the project, but that the project continues to progress and be successful, for example in the second round that awaits us in the coming months.
Our comment
The project, and the whole collaboration, was a big challenge from the beginning. It was necessary to coordinate information from all participating institutions accurately and effectively so that the project could withstand very strong European competition. As part of a short proposal, we managed to defend the project and we look forward to further challenges in the full design and subsequent implementation of the project.