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Kevin O’Connor set up his high-tech plastics recycling company
Bioplastech in 2009.
O’Connor teaches in the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical
Science at University College Dublin. He had previously taken
part in the College’s Nova Campus Company Development Programme,
which helps academic entrepreneurs turn bright ideas into
businesses.
The Bioplastech
technology converts used plastics into a new biodegradable
plastic product using a combination of chemistry and bacteria
to create a biodegradable polymer.
The original plan was for Bioplastech to join with an industrial
partner to take the business to the next stage. The company’s
partner fell victim to the recession and O’Connor is now trying
to raise a substantial amount of venture capital to fund the
next stage.
“I would really like to keep the project in Ireland. It has
the potential to employ around 50 people directly here and
also to generate significant revenues from licensing the technology
around the world.”
O’Connor needs several million euro to build a refining plant
in Ireland and is in talks with US venture capital funds to
secure the money. “The scale of the project seems to be too
big for Irish investors and, while I have been offered some
funding [in Ireland], it falls well short of what’s required,”
he says.
“There is a bigger network of potential sources of cash in
the US - they are less risk averse and more prepared to see
things over a longer term. They also make connections within
their investment portfolio and see my company as forming part
of an integrated solution to waste management.”
The most disappointing aspect of trying to get his business
off the ground in Ireland has been short-term thinking. "People
want you to set up, be very successful and sell it within
three years and make a killing. That’s not how something like
this works. You’re looking at a five to seven-year scenario.
There is also a culture here that doesnt like failure.
“There’s a lot of talk here about building a smart, green
economy - but, unless people are prepared to put the money
behind it, it’s not going to happen. There is a view that
you should be able to set up an enterprise like this on a
shoestring, when what’s needed is scale of investment that
gets you to market quickly. I am fighting very hard not to
move this company State-side.”
Source - The Irish Times
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