Thanks to its biotechnological development, the cold chain is maintained for up to 84 hours without consuming energy. They have already attracted US$150,000 in capital and the attention of Coca-Cola.
Clarence Birdseye is cited in history books as the man who made it possible to preserve food for longer while keeping its quality intact. Almost 100 years have passed since he developed flash freezing and revolutionized the food industry. Millions of dollars are moving today thanks to his invention.
When this restless man thought of that solution, the world did not yet know refrigerators or electric coolers. In the U.S., being a cutting-edge country, boxes containing ice were barely used, but they did not preserve food well and also became moldy. Today, it would be difficult to imagine a world without refrigerators for commercial and domestic use. However, the cold chain has limitations when it comes to preserving food on long journeys to remote areas.
This is where Isabel Pulido and Paola Camacho come in, two graduates of the University of the Andes, who developed a nanotechnology capable of keeping products refrigerated for up to 84 hours without any energy consumption. The two co-founders worked on the project four years ago, and when they verified its viability, they registered Nanofreeze in 2020, the company with which this year they will strengthen the supply to the food and health sector.
Isabel Pulido stated that this technique reduces the waste of perishables, especially when it comes to the last mile in the most inaccessible municipalities, rural areas, and townships, where refrigerated trucks do not enter.
“We have another impact, which is the reduction of plastic waste, specifically expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam), a material in which the boxes used to maintain the cold chain are made. In this case, we created long-life boxes made of 100% recyclable plastic,” Pulido stated.
From another perspective, they also emphasized the potential their technology can reach in the health sector, given that vaccines can also travel to the most remote places and, in this way, facilitate the work of medical brigades.
“The estimated shelf life without refrigeration is six hours for these biological products, but with this nanotechnology, the products can be transported and the workdays extended without the concern of not having anywhere to plug in the refrigerators,” Paola Camacho commented.
In fact, one of their first clients was Compensar EPS, which, according to Pulido, “uses the refrigerators to transport biological products by air and land.” They also have an herb and vegetable exporting company among their clients, and “Corona is implementing this solution to keep six-packs refrigerated and avoid Styrofoam boxes,” she added.
Capital attraction: With the nanotechnology development, the entrepreneurs received awards such as The Biology Science Challenge, an award they received in 2019, beating the project with which Harvard University competed that same year. In total, they estimate they have brought in more than US$300,000 in awards and have already attracted US$150,000 from angel investors, capital that will be used to strengthen commercial operations.
