Glasgow based start-up Revive is a green technology company that utilises used coffee grounds to produce sustainable alternatives to ingredients such as palm oil. Co-founders Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore met while studying degrees in Business Enterprise at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde.
Revive has the potential to offer global industries sustainable alternatives to the materials they currently use. They collect used coffee grounds from across the country and process them at their facility before the outputs are sold to various industries. They use a range of innovative processes to create high value, circular ingredients. These ingredients have a wide range of applications, specifically in skincare, food and drinks products. They currently have a team of five based at their lab in BioCity as they scale up their processing capabilities in order to meet demand.
It was at Strathclyde that the Revive journey started. The business concept was born from a combination of their studies and part-time jobs working in cafes. As part of their second-year class in 2012, Scott and Fergus' group were selected to represent Strathclyde at a business plan competition in Texas. After completing their studies, they formally founded the company in 2015, and felt like they were building something that had the potential to create a truly positive impact on the world.
They engaged with Strathclyde at the concept stage and worked with them right through to founding the company, receiving a plethora of support including workshops, office space, mentorship, and funding. They have also taken part in the Inspire Accelerator programme and presented at the Inspire100 event, where they were able to share their business with a wide audience of potential partners and investors. They have since gone on to become entrepreneurial ambassadors for the University and help support other early-stage entrepreneurs.
Impact is what motivates the team – specifically the opportunity to use Revive as a vehicle to create a monumental positive impact on the environment and having a significant global impact in the fight against climate change. Over 200k of funding from Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Investment Fund has allowed them to reach many of their goals. Circularity is core to Revive’s mission, and they consider it in all aspects of the business to ensure they are meeting the standards they have set for themselves.
I think living in a country as beautiful as Scotland has contributed to this feeling of responsibility to do everything we can to protect the planet we call home. When looking for new partners, investors, or team members, we look for people who share our drive to use Revive as a force for good and leave a truly positive impact on the world through our work.
Next steps for Revive are to continue scaling up their processing capabilities, allowing them to scale up their impact. They have ambition for an international footprint, and plan to collaborate with global partners in the near future.
Scott and Fergus credit their resilience in building a successful start-up, which they say is an imperative quality for entrepreneurs to possess. They offered some advice for budding entrepreneurs:
My advice to anyone with the goal of becoming an entrepreneur is to take your idea and speak to as many people as you can about it while gathering feedback to start turning your idea into something people want. Speak to Strathclyde Inspire and see how they can support you in moving forward with your idea through advice, workshops and funding support. Anyone can be an entrepreneur, and anyone can start a business, the key is to build something that people want and need, and having the resilience and perseverance to turn your idea into a reality despite the hurdles that will inevitably stand in your way.
