Image: © Olga Mishyna/Stock.adobe.com
As part of the expansion, the food waste tech company will create 20 new jobs next year.
Positive Carbon, an Irish-based start that uses technology to manage food waste, is expanding its operations in the UK.
Founded in 2020 by Aisling and Mark Kirwan, the company will open a new office in the UK to support its growing partnerships with food service providers in the region.
The expansion will also allow the start-up to create 20 new jobs in 2025. These roles will include technical support, customer success and sales.
A previous Start-up of the Week, Positive Carbon uses AI-powered sensors and lidar technology to provides real-time data that helps food service providers identify waste patterns, reduce costs and meet their sustainability goals.
Some of the locations that are using or have used Positive Carbon technology include Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, Sandymount Hotel, The Grand Hotel Malahide and Airfield Estate in Dundrum.
Mark Kirwan, CEO of Positive Carbon said the UK is a key region for the company’s growth plans. “Our mission is to help food service providers achieve their sustainability targets by reducing food waste, and our technology has the potential to make a significant impact across the UK,” he said.
“The new office, combined with the creation of 20 new jobs in 2025, will enable us to better serve our clients and continue to innovate for the future.”
Last year, Positive Carbon secured €2.3m in seed funding in a round led by Business Venture Partners (BVP) under the EII scheme and saw participation from Heartfelt, Gateway Ventures and Enterprise Ireland.
Food waste remains a major issue that has environmental, social and economic consequences. The most recent data from Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed that Ireland generated 750,000 tonnes of food waste in 2022, equating to 146kg of food waste per person – higher than the EU average per capita.
The EPA figures also showed that restaurants and food services in Ireland generated approximately 157,000 tonnes of food waste in the same year – 21pc of the total amount generated.
But Positive Carbon is just one of several Irish start-ups trying to tackle this problem. MyGug is a Cork-based start-up that focuses on small food businesses that grow their own food, providing them with a food waste disposal system that turns waste into biogas energy for cooking that can be used in kitchens and gardens.
Earlier this year, the company raised more than €900,000 in a seed funding round in order to expand its market reach in Ireland and beyond.
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