The startup Smallops produces biogas from olive oil waste and also iron nanoparticles for environmental applications.
It was hard for Íñigo to imagine that calling his friend Rubén to wish him a happy birthday would be so beneficial. It was 2018, and they were both pursuing their university studies.
The entrepreneurial adventure that would give birth in 2020 to Smallops, a startup specializing in the reuse of olive oil waste to produce biogas and nanoparticles, had just begun. Its story is well worth telling. María Jara, a co-founder along with Rubén Escudero and Íñigo Monreal, is also a key player in the process.
At the time, Rubén was immersed in his final degree project, in which he designed and verified the viability of a production plant for these carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles with various applications, such as water treatment.
At the same time, María and Íñigo were focused on planning a prospecting trip to India with another company they had. “That’s when the idea of exploring the potential application of nanoparticles in water treatment in India arose, due to the public health issues related to water quality in the country,” Íñigo Monreal tells D+I.
“Despite my lack of experience in environmental projects, María, who had experience in this field, joined the team, and we conducted our first market analysis in India and China,” he adds.
At the same time, Rubén finalized the design of the production plant for his final degree project. “That’s when we decided to call our project Smalops—the only difference is that it now has two Ls.”
After their initial market analysis, the entrepreneurs realized how difficult it would be to enter the water treatment sector, a circumstance that led them to analyze other markets where nanoparticles could have useful applications.
This is how the biogas production sector crossed their path.
