ZhanaSolutions – Fondo Acción

Investing in Impact

P4G 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.

Zhana 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. 

Zhana 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, Zhana provides a cost-effective solution for meeting the demand for used cooking oil to aid biofuel production while also contributing to wastewater management. 

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 supported Zhana in pursuing enabling environment interventions to incentivize industrial kitchens to improve wastewater treating practices. It also lead on the production of case studies and policy briefs aimed at sharing learning with other similar actors in the brown grease collection and wastewater processing industry.

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

Key achievements

• Scaled a circular economy solution for brown grease recovery, signing 12 major hospitality contracts, completing over 150 business visits and generating strong market interest through 427 qualified leads at Alimentec while avoiding 1953 metric tons in CO2 emissions.

• Strengthened investment readiness by developing a 10-year financial model, preparing legal frameworks for Series A financing and securing US $133,250 in commercial capital.

• Validated environmental impact through 160 IoT-enabled G-Trap systems and technical studies that demonstrated potential for waterway decontamination, biodiesel feedstock production and avoided emissions.

• Advanced enabling conditions by engaging public and private stakeholders, contributing to policy recommendations and supporting Bogotá’s adoption of ZhanaSolutions’ technology in its “Grease-Free Zones” program.

Through an integrated operational, commercial and institutional approach, Zhana evolved from a small-scale initiative into an investment-ready enterprise with proven environmental and market impact. Its multidisciplinary team – spanning operations, business development, technology, finance and communications – executed a national growth strategy, completing over 150 business visits, signing 12 major contracts with hospitality clients like Frisby, Marriott and AC Hotels, and securing negotiations with global chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King. Parallel marketing and PR campaigns reached over 120,000 users, strengthened brand visibility, and positioned Zhana as a national leader in circular tourism and sustainable cities. Zhana hosted an official COP16 Biodiversity Conference side event in Cali which featured leaders from government and business, including the former Environment Minister and top executives from Frisby and COTELCO. Zhana was also featured in a national TV interview on Primer Plano, further increasing public visibility.

To build investment readiness, ZhanaSolutions developed a 10-year financial model and legal frameworks for Series A preparation, securing over US $200,000 in commercial capital. Its R&D component, led by SenseAI, installed 160 IoT-enabled G-Trap systems that collect real-time data on treated water, recovered grease and avoided CO₂ emissions. These data validated the company’s environmental impact and positioned its technology as a measurable contributor to waterway decontamination. Combined with legal and financial reforms, this innovation enhanced transparency, corporate governance, and valuation potential for future investment rounds.

A major project component focused on enabling market and policy conditions for brown grease valorization as a feedstock for biodiesel. In Cartagena, Zhana launched alliances with business associations COTELCO, ACODRES and FENALCO to scale adoption among 83 hotels and leading restaurants. In Bogotá and Barranquilla, formal agreements were structured with city sewage companies to provide technical support and sponsorship for service expansion. Technical studies by EAN University, CarbonBox, H2O Es Vida and Biotrade provided scientific validation of G-Trap’s efficiency, environmental safety, and economic potential for biodiesel production. Zhana hosted two major technical roundtables in Cartagena, convening public and private stakeholders to address waste management challenges and advance sustainable tourism. These results informed proposals for updating Colombia’s wastewater discharge standards and integrating circular economy principles into the country’s green growth policies. Notably, Bogotá’s Secretariat of Environment incorporated ZhanaSolutions’ technology into its “Grease-Free Zones” program.

Beyond technical innovation, the partnership prioritized knowledge generation and dissemination. A comprehensive case study, Scaling Circular Innovation, documented ZhanaSolutions’ journey from startup to national circular economy leader. The accompanying policy brief, Energizing Kitchens, synthesized the project’s regulatory and technical recommendations, calling for wastewater reclassification, economic incentives, and the creation of financial tools to accelerate circular grease recovery. These documents, validated by the Ministry of Environment, the National Planning Department, and other institutions, now serve as key reference materials for scaling similar models across Latin America.

Zhana 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. Zhana also gained valuable connections with stakeholders like Bogotá's Environmental Secretary and Cali’s Chamber of Commerce.

Finally, participation in acceleration and networking programs such as Bancolombia EnCampo, Endeavor Dream Bigger, and Colombia Tech Week positioned ZhanaSolutions within global clean-tech investment circles. Through Fondo Acción’s oversight and coordination, the partnership strengthened institutional governance, expanded collaboration networks, and deepened Colombia’s policy dialogue around circular innovation. Collectively, these activities demonstrated how coordinated business growth, technical validation and policy engagement can transform an environmental problem into a scalable climate solution with measurable economic and environmental benefits.

Lesson learned

• Combining business growth, technical validation and policy engagement can turn a waste management challenge into a scalable climate solution with measurable economic and environmental benefits.

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