Spain is the leading producer of Extra Virgin Olive Oil worldwide, representing 60% of European and 45% of world production. Olimaker aimed to break into the olive market through technological innovation designed by two childhood friends, Rafael Ibañez and Luis Serrano, who revolutionized the sector.
Since both partners were born in Andalusia, the culture of olive oil is impregnated in them. One day, they thought about trying to produce olive oil at home and decided to try it. After five prototypes, they discovered how to develop this micro mill, which represents a worldwide disruptive innovation with industrial property, as it did not exist before.
The Olimaker micro mill allows users to produce their own olive oil in an integrated and automatic process, thanks to a portable machine. Anywhere, any time. The olive oil is obtained in 30 minutes by milling, beating, and centrifuging unified in a machine the size of a photocopier using only 3kg of olives.
These young entrepreneurs spent five years getting the project up and running. Over this time, they have invested approximately 1.2 million euros -about 250,000 euros per year- primarily in development and R&D, involving teams of engineers and other industrial property and management personnel. At the moment, Olimaker has three partners. However, a team of 15 people has been involved in developing the project.
Now, they have opened an investment round for €550,000 led by Fellow Funders through its Equity Crowdfunding platform for the new production and commercialization stage. The entrepreneurs can thus make room for many small investors to participate in the project.
Its business model is based on selling Professional and Home micro-mills to B2B and B2C channels, including spare parts and maintenance. The company is also investigating the supply of olives through 1.5 kg Oli-Bags so that individuals can easily produce their own olive oil at home. As of today, there are no sales. Both models will enter production in September, and marketing will start at the end of this year 2021, at full capacity in 2022.
Source: OK Diario
