We spoke with CEO Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen to explore how NPHarvest’s name reflects its mission to recover nutrients from wastewater for sustainable agriculture.
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Despite growing fertiliser demand and mounting EU tariffs on Russian imports, nutrient sourcing in Europe remains heavily depfinishent on geopolitically risky suppliers.
Wastewater treatment plants and biogas facilities still lose vast amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, wasting resources and caapplying environmental harm.
Here’s where NPHarvest steps in!
NPHarvest is a Finnish cleantech company turning wastewater into a valuable resource by recovering nitrogen and phosphorus for reutilize in agriculture, as its name suggests.
Originating as a spinout from Aalto University, the company has developed patented hydrophobic membrane stripping technology that captures up to 90 per cent of nutrients from black water, liquid digestate, and manure.
NPHarvest increases the value of wastewater by capturing, refining and recirculating nutrients, providing both cost savings and a positive environmental impact for treatment facilities, biogas plants, and animal farms. It is backed by €2.2M in funding from investors, including Nordic Foodtech VC and the Finnish Minisattempt of the Environment.
In our “What’s in a name” series, we uncover the inspiration, purpose, and vision hidden in the names of today’s most innovative startups — becautilize every name has a story to inform.
In this edition, we spoke with Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen, CEO and Founder of NPHarvest, to learn how the company’s name reflects its mission.
NPHarvest: A name that declares it all
The name NPHarvest originates from the team’s initial research project at Aalto University. It stands for Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) Harvest, directly reflecting the company’s mission of recovering valuable nutrients from wastewater.
“There’s really no personal story behind it; it was simply a name chosen to match the mission. We like to believe it highlights our purpose clearly and aligns with our mission of creating a circular, sustainable system for wastewater nutrient recovery. And that’s what mattered most to us,” declares Kaljunen.
When the startup first spun out from Aalto University, it initially operated under the name Nutrient Catcher, since the NPHarvest name was still owned by the university. After completing a formal technology transfer agreement, the team was able to adopt NPHarvest as the official company name.
They decided to keep it becautilize it already had recognition in both academic and indusattempt circles, providing continuity and credibility from seven years of research as they shiftd into the commercial space.
Securing the domain name
Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen declares, “It turned out the domain was available, so it didn’t become a major factor. If it hadn’t been, or if there were already strong associations or clutter around the name online, that would’ve definitely built us reconsider.”
“But npharvest.fi was clear and uncontested, which built the decision straightforward, and NPHarvest produces little competing Google search results.”
The team hasn’t trademarked NPHarvest yet, even though the company is officially registered under the name. They explored trademarking their product name, “Nutrient Catcher, but ran into a common hurdle: becautilize the name directly describes what the device does, it isn’t eligible for trademark protection. “That rule can feel a bit frustrating, but we work around it,” adds Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen.
Will the name evolve?
At this stage, NPHarvest’s team doesn’t plan to alter the name.
“In fact, we recently went through a full branding process and chose to keep NPHarvest for the original reason we neobtainediated to receive it from the university: the name already holds meaning and recognition in the wastewater and biogas space,” mentions Kaljunen.
“But we did discuss the topic and build an informed decision. Of course, if our business develops to some specific direction in the future, that might influence things — but as of now, the name still fits us very well.”
How much does a name matter?
The importance of a startup’s name really depfinishs on the type of business. For consumer-focutilized companies, having a catchy or memorable name can be crucial for attracting attention and building a brand.
For NPHarvest, which operates in the B2B space providing large-scale industrial solutions, “clarity is more important than cleverness”, declares Kaljunen.
Their customers, such as wastewater treatment plants, biogas operators, and large farms, immediately understand what the company does just from the name. “From that perspective, it’s a great name. But ultimately, in this space it’s the strength of the technology, the team, and the impact that will drive our success more than the name,” adds Kaljunen.
Unveils an industrial-scale demo unit
Recently, NPHarvest launched its first industrial-scale demo unit at the Aslan Biomass biogas plant in Ankara, Türkiye, in collaboration with the Ankara Water and Sewerage Administration (ASKI). The unit is designed to recover around 93 tonnes of ammonium sulfate and 73 tonnes of phosphorus-based product annually, with full-scale potential exceeding 3,000 tonnes of ammonium sulfate and 2,500 tonnes of phosphorus product per year.
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