[13/06/2022] Informatics PhD student Jonathan Feldstein, founder of Bennu.ai, won the Growth Innovation Award at the Inspire Launch Grow Awards which celebrate the ambition, resilience and accomplishments of the University of Edinburgh entrepreneurs. The Growth Innovation Award aim to recognise organisations with high-growth potential. Image Bennu.ai is a startup developing AI-robotics solutions to help businesses reach net-zero while saving on operational costs. It has developed a new way to sort waste automatically. Half of what goes into our general waste could be recycled, while 25% of the contents of our recycling bins is contaminated with unrecyclable waste. Bennu.ai has developed Janus, a bin that sorts waste automatically. The user throws waste away and Janus takes care of the rest. It guarantees to save businesses 10% of waste management costs and early projections estimate possible reductions of 40%. As one of 13 finalists, Jonathan beat strong competition at the application stage and gave a one-minute pitch in front of an in-person audience yesterday at EUSA’s Potterrow. One winner for each award category was announced. Feedback and support from Edinburgh Innovations has been important throughout, so receiving this recognition of the company’s viability, growth potential and market fit feels really good, especially as the competition was so strong. And I think my accountant will be happy! Jonathan Feldstein, PhD student at the School of Informatics Johnathan will receive £5,000 to help develop Bennu.ai further. Student Enterprise at the University of Edinburgh provides a comprehensive suite of support services for students and launching a record-breaking 100 startups in the last academic year. Related links Link to Edinburgh Innovations news item Link to Bennu.ai website This article was published on 2024-03-18
