ZhanaSolutions – Fondo Acción

Investing in Impact

P4G has awarded the partnership with US $359,000 in grant funding. 

At the core of ZhanaSolutions’ business is the G-Trap unit. This equipment employs technology that separates up to 99% of oils and fats from wastewater collected in industrial kitchens. This brown grease is further processed at collection centers and then transported to a final conditioning site where it is purified to meet the necessary standard to become raw material for biodiesel production. 

ZhanaSolutions has two primary sources of income. One from a monthly fee for providing grease waste management services to food retail companies such as Frisby, Éxito, Crepes y Waffles, KFC and Hyatt Hotels. The second source is from the sale of purified brown grease to biodiesel producers. 

ZhanaSolutions plans to include sensors in its equipment that will allow the business to share impact indicators with its clients such as the amount of waste repurposed and liters of water saved from contamination. 

With the growing need for alternate cleaner sources of energy, ZhanaSolutions provides a cost-effective solution for meeting the demand for used cooking oil to aid biofuel production while also contributing to wastewater management. 

The partnership hopes to provide recommendations that can inform and update the existing discharge regulatory framework in Colombia to ensure that more companies manage their brown grease responsibly. 

Fondo Acción is a private Colombian fund with 23 years of experience in sustainable investments in environment and childhood solutions. In 2018, Fondo’s Impact Investment Fund (FIMI, for its name in Spanish) launched to support entrepreneurs concerned with the planet’s health and with social equity. 

Fondo Acción is supporting ZhanaSolutions pursue the enabling environment interventions that will incentivize industrial kitchens to better wastewater treating practices. It is also leading on producing case studies and policy briefs aimed at sharing learning with other similar actors in the brown grease collection and wastewater processing industry. 

So far, ZhanaSolutions has produced 40 G-Trap units, deploying nine across Zhana Zones in Bogotá, Cartagena and Medellín. ZhanaSolutions also hired an administrative coordinator for its project. 

ZhanaSolutions attended and presented at several events, including innPact Week in Barranquilla and the Fundación Grupo Bancolombia EnCampo Bootcamp. It showcased its technology at Alimentec, one of the biggest food industry fairs in Colombia, generating 427 qualified leads with 166 showing purchase interest. It launched a pilot with Arcos Dorados (McDonald’s) in Argentina and is setting up a pilot with Grupo Nutresa (Hamburguesas El Corral) in Bogotá. ZhanaSolutions also gained valuable connections with stakeholders like Bogotá's Environmental Secretary and Cali’s Chamber of Commerce. 

At San Francisco Climate Week, ZhanaSolutions engaged with climate tech investors and Cleantech San Diego. The partnership also participated in key events on sustainable economy and climate financing and held meetings with notable companies. 

Lastly, ZhanaSolutions set up its data room and presented it to its investment committee. The next steps involve finalizing its company valuation and launching its Series A campaign. It expects to close a bridge investment round of $1 million in 2024, prior to launching its Series A campaign. 

During the P4G funding period, the partnership aims to raise around US $1.8 million in investment, create 20 additional jobs, and reduce around 448 metric tons of carbon emissions. It also aims to increase the number of service sites from 192 in 2023 to about 2,000 by the end of 2025.

The partnership comprises the following partners: ZhanaSolutions (lead business partners); Fondo Acción (lead administrative partner).