Living Forest, a new "climate tech" start-up resulting from collaboration between ULiège and BXVentures, aims to make the most of the resources of our forests while helping to preserve them

Living Forest, a new "climate tech" start-up resulting from collaboration between ULiège and BXVentures, aims to make the most of the resources of our forests while helping to preserve them. 

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iving Forest is ULiège's latest start-up, the fruit of collaboration between the Smart Gastronomy Lab and venture studio BXVentures, which specialises in deploying technological solutions with a positive impact on the biosphere

This is the first of many successes in a new collaboration that demonstrates ULiège's commitment to innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship, and lays the foundations for promising future initiatives within the institution.

A natural drink with high nutritional value and an alternative to cling film, the first innovations to come out of our forests.

For many of our fellow citizens, trees are part of their environment, but they don't realise that they are at the heart of our ecosystems, and that they harbour a remarkable biological wealth.

Drawing on the AgriTech/FoodTech expertise of the Smart Gastronomy Lab, Living Forest and its CEO, Louis Falisse, have created So Wood, a new range of healthy, non-alcoholic fermented So Wood Kombucha drinks made from natural essences from the forests of the Belgian Ardennes. So Wood Kombucha promotes the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, reflecting the company's commitment to sustainability. 

At the same time, Living Forest is working on the scientific valorisation of 'Scoby', a material derived from the fermentation of Kombucha, to develop new innovative and sustainable biofilms for the food and soil treatment sectors. This line of development, in partnership with researchers at ULiège, opens up the possibility of large-scale, circular and less costly production of symbiotic bacterial cellulose, and paves the way for numerous applications where very high mechanical properties, high water retention and biocompatibility are important.

To achieve these two objectives, Living Forest is relying on a multidisciplinary team made up of Éric Haubruge and Dorothée Goffin from the Smart Gastronomy Lab and BXVentures to accelerate commercial development.

A promising partnership with BXVentures

BXVentures, a venture studio active in Belgium and Canada since 2021, develops and invests in promising technologies that address the issues of climate change, working with reputable and recognised players in their ecosystem to support them in their innovations.

Éric Haubruge: "This alliance with BXVentures opens up new prospects for the University of Liège. We are proud to contribute to this unique initiative, which combines cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship."

Olivier Thirifays: "This new partnership with ULiège and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech confirms the expansion of our unique model of collaboration with universities, speeding up the deployment of innovative technologies that are useful for the climate and rooted in cutting-edge academic research".

Louis Falisse: "Being able to combine university scientific expertise, with the Smart Gastronomy Lab, and an impact-oriented business approach, through BX Ventures, is a definite advantage for the development of Living Forest."

Didier Mattivi, Director of ULiège-RISE, comments: "The collaboration with BXVentures is perfectly in line with our desire to support and stimulate sustainable research and encourage the creation of spin-off companies at the University of Liège. The Start-up Studio model, which has proved its worth in other fields, adds another string to our bow in launching these companies from our laboratories, while maximising our chances of success."

Living Forest

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