Samir Chitnavis, a Master’s student at Jesus College, is part of a team that has just been announced as the top prize winner at the Oxford Foundry’s prestigious All-Innovate competition (Trinity Term 2021).

Samir, who is studying for a Master’s in Biology, co-founded CyanoCapture with David Kim, a postgraduate in Medicine at Christ Church. CyanoCapture aims for scalable, low-cost, biological carbon capture using genetically-modified algae, known as cyanobacteria. The two young entrepreneurs fought off tough competition from over 100 teams at 33 Oxford colleges to win ‘Best Idea’ and £10,000 in grant funding plus follow-on support for their start-up venture.

 

Samir says, “Climate change is a global priority. Our vision is to be a central player in the global roadmap towards achieving Net Zero by 2050. We’re especially grateful for the Foundry for this opportunity.”

“With a constantly falling cap on carbon emissions and the ever-rising cost of carbon credits and penalty fines, combined with political shifts in the EU and the US, carbon capture technologies are more economically viable than ever before. With the University’s landmark launch of Oxford GAV Conservation Studio (OXGAV), we feel validated that this is the right time and the right place to innovate.”

Having won the Oxford Biohackathon back in April this year, CyanoCapture incorporated as a company, and went on to secure angel investment to fund their next R&D stage. In October, they will enter Elon Musk’s Carbon Removal XPRIZE and plan to pilot their first site in 2023. Following success in the All-Innovate competition, the team hope that working closely with the Oxford Foundry will help realise their potential.

All-Innovate is Oxford’s inter-college competition run by the Oxford Foundry in partnership with Oxford colleges. It aims to encourage all students at Oxford, regardless of discipline, to develop an entrepreneurial skills set and generate entrepreneurial ideas. Students pitch their ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win a share of £20,000 prize money. In 2021, the competition went online and there were two rounds of winners in both Hilary and Trinity term. All applicants were also offered the chance to take part in a one-day intensive virtual bootcamp to help them develop their ideas.

Ana Bakshi, Executive Director of the Oxford Foundry, said “It’s so critical that all students – no matter what they’re studying – are given the entrepreneurial and tech skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. So far over 300 students have engaged with All-Innovate across 33 partner Colleges. All students gain vital skills in problem-solving, pitching, confidence and collaboration at our idea generation workshops and All-Innovate bootcamps, and it’s a transformational experience, whether students have a chosen career path or want to set up a venture on their own.”

This is certainly true for one previous All-Innovate winner from Jesus College. Following mentorship from the Jesus Entrepreneur Network (JEN), alumnus Dr Peter Liu pitched Oxford Cancer Analytics (OXcan) at the 2019 competition. Following their success, OXcan has gone on to gain a place on the Foundry’s OXFO Elevate Accelerator, and has already raised more than £1 million in its first seed funding round.

Samir hopes that CyanoCapture can also work alongside the JEN in the future; “Maybe there’s something special in the water at Jesus! I’m very proud to call myself a student at this college. I’d like to thank my tutors, friends and family for their support over this last year”.  

For more information on CyanoCapture, visit their website here.