The Spanish start-up Ekonoke has closed a 4.2 million investment round with the support of Cosecha de Galicia (Corporación Hijos de Rivera), Leanox Impact Capital, Alazady España, business angels Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena, César Melo, Rafael Serrano Tubio and Francisco Pastrana, as well as other friends and family members. Ekonoke has been advised by Across Legal to carry out the transaction.
With this injection of funds, Ekonoke will start up a 1,000 square metre R&D pilot plant in Chantada (Lugo) to test its indoor hop growing model and the automation of its processes.
This first step towards the commercialisation of this pioneering project in Galicia has been led by Cosecha de Galicia, the agricultural innovation engine of the Hijos de Rivera group, owner of Estrella Galicia.
Ekonoke began its activity five years ago with the most typical hydroponic crops in controlled environment agriculture (lettuces, aromatic herbs and micro-sprouts) but, after several trials with crops with high climate risk, they managed to optimise this method with hops in a 100% controlled environment, combining technology and scientific knowledge to provide climate resilience and sustainability to this seriously endangered species, which is essential for brewing beer.
World production of this ingredient is currently located in very specific regions such as the northwest of the United States and Germany, where 80% is concentrated, and is closely linked to specific climatic conditions, with abundant water, long daylight hours in summer and moderate temperatures. The increasingly frequent combination of extreme weather events, such as drought or excessive summer temperatures, is leading to reductions in productivity per hectare of up to 30% and up to 60% in quality.
The process developed by Ekonoke achieves yields comparable to those obtained in the field in years with optimal conditions, as well as significantly higher quality, without the use of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides and through the consumption of renewable energy, with a water footprint 20 times smaller and acting as a carbon sink.
The hops, grown until now at the company’s research centres in Alcobendas and San Sebastián de los Reyes, have been used by Hijos de Rivera (through Cosecha de Galicia) to produce the first beer brewed exclusively with indoor hops. It is an IPA launched under the name Respect! by La Tita Rivera and can be tasted at the brand’s premises in Coruña, Madrid and Vigo.
The pilot plant in Chantada, located in the Os Acivros industrial estate, will be operative in the second quarter of 2023 and will be maintained as an R&D plant with highly qualified personnel. It is hoped that the results obtained will enable future commercial-scale development of sustainable, top-quality indoor hop cultivation in future larger facilities in Galicia.
Source: El Economista
