A Romanian Startup among the best in Central and Southeast Europe at BASF Innovation Hub Competition

Romanian startup Peelhy won the regional phase of pitch competition for sustainable future, organized for Central and Southeast Europe, called BASF Innovation Hub. Peelhy’s founder Marius Pașculea is developing an idea for decontamination of fresh fruits and vegetables with edible peel using an antimicrobial biosticker that dissolves by washing it.

BASF Innovation Hub Grand Finale and overall winning solution is SpeedPox, reinventing the process in which epoxy resins, an important class of plastics are created, making it more accessible for automotive, sport and leisure and many other industries. The founders will use the grand prize, worth EUR 5,000 gross, to further develop their idea.

Andreas Lier, Managing Director of BASF for Romania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia, emphasizes that BASF Innovation Hub is being held for a third year in a row, with very high interest for participation from startups: “This year we have received more than 120 applications from 11 European countries, more than in the previous editions. Europe has a vision to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. Thus, government, industry and individuals need to work together and startups are playing a very important role in this context”.

“We’ll always be happy to reward innovation, especially when it deals with sustainability and circular economy”, added in his turn, Sebastian Metz, General Manager of AHK Romania. “It is a very good news that so many start-ups registered to BASF competition, as it means that more and more actors from our societies, not only the large companies, embraced the ideas of a green future. Like every year, there were many good projects on paper. I believe that all these young innovative companies who sent us applicable plans and sketches, that can be implemented at reasonable costs, deserve all our support.”

BASF Innovation Hub is a pitch competition, intended for ideas dealing with the Cleantech, Circularity and Farm to Fork solutions which are an integral part of the European Green Deal. It is organized for 11 European countries, including Romania. This year, it lasted from May to November, and more than 120 solutions applied.