illusory reasons; The reason for not giving visas to Iranian startups!

Earlier in the article to get admission The presence of three Iranian startups at the Agritechnica 2019 exhibition We had paid. This exhibition started its work two days ago in Hanover, Germany, when the visas of the founders of the three Iranian teams accepted for this exhibition were rejected, and the startups Energine and binge They lost the opportunity to attend the exhibition. For this reason, we had an interview with Mrs. Samieh Akbari, the founder of the Energine team, and we inquired about the reason, so stay tuned.

Introduce yourself and what does your device do?

Samia Akbari, the founder Startup I am an energy engineer and a graduate of mechanical engineering with a bachelor’s degree in construction and production and fluids and a master’s degree in energy conversion. The name of this startup is a combination of energy and future, and I launched this startup with the slogan of future energy, which is active in the environment and renewable energies.

This device produces energy from waste. The beginning of this idea was formed from the idea of ​​turning grapes into vinegar by my mother, and eventually turned into an idea that produces energy from perishable materials.

How does this device turn waste into energy?

This device receives non-plastic waste, such as food waste, and outputs gas, electricity, water and fertilizer. This device can be produced in 3 phases: industrial, semi-industrial and domestic, and its domestic type has the dimensions of a refrigerator and can receive all non-plastic waste as input.

How much does this product cost? Is it affordable for home use?

Due to the low price of the dollar at the moment, the total price for buyers is about 16-18 million tomans, and if the consumer gives garbage to the machine every day, the cost of buying the machine will be returned to the buyer in less than two years. In the industrial mode, the return period of the initial cost depends on the amount of waste input of the machine.

What is the capacity of the household device to receive garbage?

The capacity of the device in home mode is 10 kg of garbage per day (of course, it can be increased to 50 kg), which gives this amount of garbage, 4 cubic meters of gas, 2 kilowatts of electricity, 2 and a half liters of water and 6 kg of fertilizer, and all these energies are obtained. They can be used for domestic purposes and even those who do not need gas can convert gas into electricity.

The energies of the Energine device are convertible and the consumer can sell the electricity to the Tawanir office of the electricity company.

What is the capacity of the machine in industrial and semi-industrial mode?

This device has much more capacity in industrial and semi-industrial mode. Semi-industrial is used for hotels, restaurants, hospitals, barracks, prisons, etc., and industrial is for agricultural uses (for example, in the garden, rotten fruits, tree leaves, etc. are the input of the machine), processing industries and food factories that waste have. In this case, their waste intake is estimated to be over one ton per day.

Did you patent this device?

Yes, it has been patented in Iran and it has also received US patent acceptance. The US patent has three stages, which include: accept, publish and grant, and my device is in the first stage, which is entered into the system and approved. For the cost of patenting the device, financial assistance was received from the researchers’ fund.

Tell us a little more about your business model.

Currently, 5 units have been produced and 4 units have been sold. The income models in home mode are only selling the device and taking fertilizer from homes and selling it. In the industrial and semi-industrial mode, it is also possible to participate with companies in the issue of energy production and convert gas into electricity and sell it to Tawanir Company.

How many people does the Energine team consist of?

I started designing the work alone, but I got help from my friends in making it, but they did not interfere in the shares and cooperated with me. But now, due to the scope of the work, a team has been formed in the manufacturing and sales department.

Have you sold in industrial mode?

No in Iran, but we are negotiating outside of Iran.

Is there a similar model of this device?

A similar example exists in the conversion of gas from waste, but the aggregation of all energies in one device has never existed.

Why is there no similar product in Iran?

In Iran, due to the cheapness of energy, less people go to this device, but on the other hand, one of the best sources of income for this device is export. In other words, it can be said that due to the high cost of energy in other countries, this device has a more suitable position in other countries.

Have you ever attracted capital?

Talks in line with investment We had both inside and outside of Iran, but none of them have reached an agreement at the moment. I have paid all the production costs up to this stage myself, and I think that in production-oriented startups, it is better to proceed with personal capital so that the founder’s discretion is not limited.

Were you deployed in an accelerator or co-working space?

no The place where we are currently located is a sub-category of Sharif University of Technology (Sharif University Science and Technology Park), which I was able to enter with the invention plan; Although I am not here for a long time and I often use this place to hold meetings and conclude contracts.

Tell us about Agrotechnica Germany exhibition and related events.

I got acquainted with agricultural startups and Dr. Mokhtari, who is responsible for the startups of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, by attending the Al-Comp exhibition. In this exhibition, my project was among the 16 startups that were supported by the Ministry of Jihad at the Al-Kamp exhibition, out of which 3 startups were selected to participate in the Agritechnica exhibition in Germany, one of which was Energy Startup.

These three startups were officially invited to the exhibition by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), but the visas of 2 startups out of these 3 startups were rejected, which according to them was due to the fact that the place of residence was not clear and the accommodation costs could not be proven; However, due to UNIDO bearing the costs, we sent our protest to Visa, the result of which has not been received yet.

We also discussed this problem with Dr. Mokhtari, who decided to follow up through the Ministry of Jihad. Mr. Mikhail Schmidt, the official of UNIDO, also followed up in Germany, but he was told that due to the relocation of the embassy, ​​it is not possible to re-examine for visa issuance until the end of next week. Currently, among the 3 startups, only Cashmon startup has received a visa and is present in Hanover.

Do you have other ideas?

Yes. I have made two other devices in line with the following inventions, one of which I was supposed to take to the exhibition along with this device, and I have patented one of them. This device produces gasoline from plastic, which I have made a small sample of, and its dimensions are smaller than the Energine device.

This device converts 45% of the amount of plastic into gasoline, and since plastic waste has no other way than recycling, it can be a very good idea.

Have you ever been invited by the national media to introduce your product?

Yes, I was invited on TV in the program Haraf Hasat as well as the field contest, but in the program Haraf Hasat, in order to receive facilities, it was supposed to provide facilities to innovative projects, but they changed their mind and gave the facilities to a large shoe merchant who did not need facilities. , they presented. Recently, I was invited by the Mustafa Award (the highest award for science and technology for scientists in the Islamic world).

Explain to us about your experiences in the field of construction. Did you take a path that you wouldn’t have taken if you had to go back?

Fortunately, I was satisfied with all the steps I took along this path, such as personal growth and development courses with a business approach, digital marketing courses in line with advertising, etc., and if I were to go through this path again, I would go through all those steps again. I do.

Have you been in a situation to give up on the path?

In difficult situations, this decision comes to the mind of business owners; But it was completely transient and fortunately I continued the path.

Last word?

I suggest to young people to start a startup in the field they are interested in so that they can have a source of income and in this way they can maintain their creativity and innovation. In my opinion, it is better for people to try to achieve their dreams instead of trying to make others achieve their dreams!

At the end, we invite you to watch the introduction clip of Energine startup, which was prepared by Ecomotive Media at the Elcamp exhibition.