Banco Santander, in partnership with the Norrsken and Oxentia foundations, has recognized six companies for their work in circular economy innovation. The winners were selected from 500 applicants across 11 countries and come from Germany, Spain, and the UK.
Each winning company will share a total of EUR 120,000 in prize money. They will also join the Santander X 100 global community and gain access to Banco Santander’s Fintech Station open innovation programme as well as a year’s membership at Norrsken Barcelona.
The announcement was made during an event in Barcelona attended by several figures from the entrepreneurship and sustainability sectors. Among those present were Antonio Suárez-Pumariega, Global Head of Digital Business at Santander Universities; Maite Cordón, Head of Santander Growth; Asier González, Head of Value-Added Solutions at Santander España; Rocío Alcocer, Managing Director of Norrsken Barcelona; and Marc Jordana, Co-founder of Norrsken Barcelona. They emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship for advancing circular economy practices.
The startup category winners include:
- Metalchemy (UK), which produces anti-microbe and biodegradable food packaging using green-manufactured colloidal silver.
- PulpaTronics (UK), which designs smart paper-based RFID tags that avoid electronic waste.
- Radical Dot GmbH (Germany), which converts mixed plastic waste into chemical precursors to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
In the scaleup category:
- Catalyxx Procesos Catalíticos (Spain) transforms waste into renewable alcohols for industrial use.
- Lain Technologies (Spain) develops electrochemical methods for sustainable metal extraction.
- Kelpi (UK) creates recyclable seaweed-based coatings as alternatives to plastic packaging.
According to Banco Santander, “Banco Santander has been a pioneering stalwart of education, employability and entrepreneurship for almost 30 years, standing out among the world's financial institutions. Santander has deployed over EUR 2.4 billion to these areas and given scholarships and grants to more than 3.7 million people and businesses through agreements with nearly 1,200 universities (www.santander.com/universidades).”
The bank supports business growth through its global platform Santander X by offering various non-financial services such as training programs, online courses, discounts, exclusive events, challenges and awards.
Norrsken Barcelona is described as “a non-profit foundation that is building a global impact ecosystem where entrepreneurs can find the capital, network and knowledge they need to make a positive change.” The foundation operates under the broader Norrsken Foundation umbrella established by Niklas Adalberth. It manages five funds totaling over USD 1 billion invested in impact startups globally.
The Oxentia Foundation aims “to address global inequalities through innovation and entrepreneurship.” Originating from Oxford University Innovation—the technology transfer arm of the University of Oxford—Oxentia brings decades of experience supporting academic innovation across more than 70 countries.