Winner of the Ajujaht SEB special award protects nature and raises health awareness through food

The winner of the Ajujaht SEB special future enterprise award is Naturist. The company produces granules made from organic hemp and peas, which turn into a mince-like superfood with twice the protein of beef when exposed to water and the pan. Its aim with this product is to make fast food available as a superfood, while improving the environment, sequestering carbon dioxide, and saving clean water.

‘Naturist is made up of bold, ambitious, and creative entrepreneurs who are committed to reducing the environmental footprint of meat production. In addition, they are able to measure the environmental impact of their activities very clearly, which is an important factor in attracting investors and further growth. They have said that their alternative product, CRUMP, uses nearly 400 times less water and has a carbon footprint 24 times smaller than meat production,’ Andra Altoa, Head of Strategy at SEB Baltics, explained.

According to entrepreneurs, one of the biggest challenges facing the food industry today is to keep up with the demand for plant-based foods, especially protein. The problem concerns millions who are cutting down or giving up animal protein, for both health and moral reasons. Since the human body needs protein every day to function healthily, their business idea and solution focuses on meeting that need.
 
Following the presentations of the Top 3 teams nominated for the Ajujaht SEB special award at Impact Day, the largest sustainability festival in the Baltics, on 7 October, the jury selected the best business idea that met all the parameters of a future business.

Top 3 teams in the running for the special award:

Kõnekindlus, which produces and sells speech therapy games/tools created in collaboration with specialists, designed to address speech disorders and support speech development.
 
MyCeen, which develops compostable building materials and furnishing products from fungal mycelium and organic residues.
 
Naturist, which produces granules made from organic hemp and peas that turn into a mince-like superfood when they come into contact with water and a pan. The product contains two times more protein than beef and can be stored for two years at room temperature.
 
Ajujaht is Estonia’s best-known accelerator for start-ups, where you can put your business idea and team to the test under the supervision of professionals. The Ajujaht accelerator programme and TV competition is a public-private partnership managed by the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency.