At a time when waste management is top of the political agenda, Irish start-up company Obeo has just raised €350,000 to support its expansion into the UK. Obeo specialises in recycling products, including a compostable food waste box it has already brought to market to help households manage food waste. It was the first company to spin out of Origin8 in 2014, the design innovation and commercialisation gateway at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD).
Co-founder and chief executive Liz Fingleton said that Obeo promises to remove the "yuck" factor from food waste recycling. Ms Fingleton said each Obeo box lasts between two and three days, and when full, it goes directly into the brown bin. This means no nasty smells, no mess and no big juice, she added.
The Obeo CEO said that a five pack of food waste boxes is available at €3.85 in Supervalu, while a three pack sells in Dunnes Stores for €2.50. She said the company knew that pay by weight waste charges were coming down the line and more people would be incentivised to use their brown bins more to avoid higher bin charges.
Ms Fingleton said the investment money will be used to support Obeo's entry into the UK market as well as develop more products in its range of food waste management products. It also plans to expand its workforce over the next two years to support its future growth.
Obeo has also recently launched an online subscription service and households across Ireland and the UK can get their food waste boxes delivered to their door for €7 a month. Ms Fingleton says this is proving a great revenue model for the company.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Dublin is the 47th most expensive city in which to live and work for expatriates, according to the annual Cost of Living Survey compiled by consultants Mercer. Dublin has moved up from 49th to 47th over the past year. The survey identifies rising rents as the key factor in making the city more expensive. Paris, Dublin and Milan are the only three cities in the euro zone to make the list which is topped by Hong Kong. Zurich was ranked as the most expensive European city. London fell five places from 17th to 12th.
*** Chinese internet company Tencent has taken a controlling stake in Finnish mobile gaming company Supercell for $8.6 billion. Supercell is best known for the game Clash of Clans, one of four titles it has in the worldwide top ten mobile gaming chart. Its games are free to download but make money by charging users for in-app purchases where they pay small amounts to acquire upgrades or items which can help them in their game. Tencent is paying $8.6 billion for an 84% stake which values Supercell at over $10 billion. Tencent, which itself is valued at over $200 billion, is one of the biggest internet companies in the world. Its WeChat messaging app has over three quarters of a billion users in China.
*** A district court judge in the US has allowed two people to proceed with a case alleging Starbucks deliberately underfills its latte cups to save money on milk. The two plaintiffs allege the actual amount of liquid - not including milk foam - in 12, 16 or 20 ounce cups is 25% less than that advertised volume. Starbucks says the case is without merit and sought to have it dismissed but it has been allowed to proceed in the US district court in San Francisco. Judge Thelton Henderson said he found it probable that "a significant portion of the latte-consuming public could believe that a Grande latte contains 16 ounces of fluid" and has allowed the case continue to a full hearing.
