Ananda is excited to announce its investment in Elio.Earth, an AI-powered eco-design software platform that enables more sustainable product design and manufacturing.
Founded by Kami Krista and Kamil Mroczek, Elio leverages AI and large language models (LLMs) to enable scientists, engineers, and product designers to create eco-friendly products by embedding sustainability directly into the production process design phase — before production begins. This includes cutting production-related emissions, reducing pollution and biodiversity loss, and minimizing waste, starting with sustainable drug manufacturing.
Ananda led Elio’s EUR 1.9 million pre-seed round with participation from industry leaders Stefan Oschmann (former CEO of Merck) and Andreas Treichl (former CEO of Erste Group). Elio is also backed by Cerulean, a pre-seed AI fund, and Overview Capital, a US-based climate fund, as well as syndicate groups from We\R and RHEINEST/N&V Capital.
The sustainable manufacturing challenge
Designing and optimising manufacturing processes is complex — adding sustainability to the equation introduces further complexity. Yet in the pharmaceutical industry alone, 70–80% of a drug’s final environmental impact is determined during the process design phase. Considering the pharmaceutical industry contributes 0.9–2.5% of global emissions, the benefits of making the process design phase more sustainable are evident.
Currently, scientists in the pharmaceutical industry design products that won’t be realised for 5–10 years, with minimal foresight into legislative or environmental changes. Additionally, the industry relies on third-party suppliers, but has limited visibility into whether its supplier base is following sustainable practices.
As such, VCs have tended to focus on this problem, funding companies that enable supply chain and Scope 3 emissions tracking. However, Ananda believes that sustainability should begin at the process design phase, not after the product is manufactured, as the ability to reduce its environmental impact is more limited.
Embedding sustainability into the initial stages of drug development has the potential to have a much greater impact. Elio’s game-changing software platform addresses the lack of foresight that currently exists in the design phase of the production process. By providing vital guidance on how to design more sustainably, Elio enables the creation of environmentally-friendly products from the outset, helping to avoid future issues with regulations and additional costs.
This is a timely development for the pharmaceutical industry, because the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directives (CSRD) — which put sustainability at the heart of product design — are coming into effect this year. While the industry is likely to escape being penalised in the initial rollout of these directives, astute pharma CEOs know they must act now, given the 10-year average timeline for creating and approving new drugs.
And following supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, resilience is of utmost priority for the pharmaceutical sector. End-to-end visibility is essential, not just with suppliers but across the entire value chain — and that very much includes the process design phase.
Another timely development has been the rapid advances made in AI and large language model learning, which is Elio’s foundational technology. By enabling actionable insights to be quickly delivered via the consumption and analysis of massive volumes of data, Elio can identify and facilitate more sustainable product development processes without adding further complexity and costs. This creates the perfect storm for innovation and establishes a new category of software.
Decarbonising the design phase
Elio enables design teams to rapidly understand and assess the solution landscape for a product’s manufacturing process. This means that a decarbonisation and sustainability strategy for each new pharmaceutical product can be quickly developed. Elio also streamlines communications with the stakeholders required for the implementation of the manufacturing process across the entire value chain.
For example, Elio’s software platform helps to explore how to optimise heat and water usage, and find alternatives to consumables (such as packaging or vials), petrochemicals and other toxic, polluting chemicals.
“By making it easier to integrate sustainability into early-stage production processes, Elio has the potential to significantly reduce the pharmaceutical industry’s environmental and climate impact” says Alina Bassi, Investment Manager at Ananda Impact Ventures.
Moreover, by improving the visibility of process options at the design phase, companies can also proactively manage their supply chains, mitigate risks, and strengthen overall resilience.
An all-star team
What makes this startup truly special is its founding team.
Kami Krista, a scientist, designer, engineer, and activist, is currently putting his bioengineering studies on hold at Harvard to pursue his vision. His on-the-ground industry knowledge and network, coupled with his intellect and product acumen, form a rare combination, the kind that’s needed to make a significant impact in the world.
Kamil Mroczek, he led two startups to successful acquisition: Sense360, as cofounder and CTO, and Thinknear, as founding software engineer. He has over ten years of experience in scaling big data systems and brings a wealth of software engineering expertise and company-building knowledge.
Alongside their founding NLP engineer, Raul Incze, and Chief of Staff Alaisha Sharma, this team is stellar.
Elio and Ananda
At Ananda, we conduct extensive research and delve deeply into various topics, often reaching out to founders in these fields. However, sometimes two people meet in real life, and you just “know”.
Zoe Peden, Partner at Ananda, was on a panel at the House of Impact, a side event held during Slush in Helsinki, discussing opportunities and hot areas for impact investment. As she was about to head downstairs to relax after the event, a foot gently stopped her mid-flight — which is how Zoe met Kami. Kami booked an appointment to see Zoe in her one remaining slot the next day.
Zoe recalls: “I’ve spent the last seven years meeting thousands of founders. I live for that moment when one of them stops you in your tracks and you know you’re speaking with someone quite extraordinary. I could not get Kami out of my head. It took me two meetings to grasp the extent of his product vision. My head moves fast, but I needed to shift into Kami gear to fully understand the implications of what he was saying.”
With a commitment to changing the way sustainability is integrated into product design, Ananda has invested in Elio.Earth to shift the dial and change the status quo. From the moment we met Kami and Kamil, we were inspired by their energy, resilience, and willingness to do whatever it takes to transform these traditional industries and rethink the future of manufacturing.
At Ananda, we have our own experiences of being founders on the roller coaster journey from zero to one. This, we believe, is what makes us a great partner for Elio at this crucial early stage.
Elio’s software is needed to support scientists in decision-making to tackle the climate transition and enable us to achieve net-zero.
Together, Elio and Ananda will help pave the way towards a future where sustainability is an essential part of scientists’ daily workflows and at the forefront of design processes.