An agriculture technology startup based in the Birmingham metro has big aspirations.
And they’re starting to come to fruition.
Cleaned & Green is a technology holding and development company that has developed a patented technology for conversion of poultry litter and other excrement into an enhanced-efficiency fertilizer without using an external heat source.
To date, the company has raised $150,000 in funding and is in phase two of a Small Business Innovation Research award, which totals about $500,000 with an additional approximately 50% match from Innovate Alabama. Though the funds have not yet been awarded, Lyle Reynolds, CEO of Cleaned & Green, said they will be used to establish a pilot plant.
The company developed its technology in partnership with a tech development and deployment firm. Laboratory tests demonstrated the successful production of a fertilizer that enhances raw chicken litter with nitrogen, sulfur and other nutrients and overcomes regulations on litter applications, according to Reynolds.
The company’s enhanced-efficiency fertilizer provides what Reynolds calls an economically friendly alternative to fertilizing with raw, stacked, composted or heat-processed poultry litter. The chicken litter fertilizer, unlike typical fertilizer, has slow-release properties, which prevents runoff pollution from unused fertilizer and can be used by all current agricultural equipment.
Reynolds has a diverse background as an executive in multiple industries including media, pharmaceutical staffing and management, mergers and acquisition advising. He was president of Great South Wireless.
Cleaned & Green has two other employees.
Bill Boycott, chief adviser and executive board member, is a senior agriculture and energy executive with experience in leadership roles with organizations ranging from startup phase to Fortune 100. He served as a member of the senior executive team of Agrium, and he was also president of Sulvaris Inc., a startup technology company focused on enhanced-efficiency plant nutrient sulfur products.
Ray Shirley, chief inventor and lead engineer, is a professional chemical engineer with more than 56 years of experience in developing and producing fertilizers and chemical technologies. He has directed plant design and construction for many fertilizer plants and pilot plants and is an inventor on dozens of patents for equipment and processes including Cleaned & Green.
As for the future of the company, Reynolds said it is important to carefully weigh a capital raise against potential dilution of ownership. It is also tough, he said, because fertilizer startups that came before Cleaned & Green were not always successful.
“We’re just not ready to dilute our ownership at this point, especially if we can accomplish what we need to accomplish with grant funding,” he said, adding that because of the nature of the fertilizer industry, growth potential is high.
