Harpenden-based AgriTech startup EcoNomad Solutions has received €466k (£400k) in new funding to help small livestock farms cut methane emissions, reduce rising energy and fertiliser costs, and turn organic waste into renewable energy.
The investment is made up of €268k (£230k) from the British Design Fund (BDF), alongside an Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant and additional support from existing investor Beeches Group.
Dr. Ilan Adler, founder and CEO of EcoNomad Solutions, says: “Small farms are under increasing pressure, yet they’re often excluded from the renewable energy solutions available to larger operators. Our mission is to change that. The BioNomad is designed to make waste‑to‑energy accessible, affordable and practical for even the smallest farms, helping them reduce emissions, lower costs and build resilience. The support from BDF, Innovate UK and our existing investors enables us to progress product development and scale our operations across the UK and Europe.”
Today’s funding lands amid continued investment in European technologies aimed at lowering agriculture’s environmental footprint and improving farm economics.
Throughout this year, EU-Startups has seen various rounds including: €1.7 million for Sweden’s Volta Greentech to reduce methane emissions from cattle, €1.25 million for Amsterdam-based Proba to scale fertiliser-related emissions reductions, €3.2 million for Berlin’s Seqana to expand soil-health monitoring, €8 million for French regenerative-agriculture startup UBEES, and more than €1.17 million for UK agricultural robotics company Versatile RobotX.
Together with EcoNomad, these rounds amount to over €15 million, while the broader segment has also attracted a €120 million regenerative-agriculture financing facility for Lithuania’s InSoil.
The Versatile RobotX round provides a particularly relevant UK comparison, as it was also backed by the British Design Fund and Innovate UK.
Damon Bonser, CEO of the British Design Fund, adds: “EcoNomad Solutions is addressing a major environmental and economic challenge with a solution that is both innovative and highly scalable. Their approach to decentralised anaerobic digestion has the potential to deliver meaningful impact for small farms globally. We’re pleased to support Ilan and the team as they take this next step.”
Founded in 2018, EcoNomad Solutions looks to reduce the environmental impact of livestock smallholdings through animal waste-to-energy conversion on small scale and locally.
EcoNomad’s flagship product, the BioNomad, captures methane that would otherwise be emitted, converts organic waste into biogas for heating, cooking or electricity, and produces high‑quality biofertiliser that reduces reliance on chemical inputs.
According to data provided by the company, typical smallholding of around 50 cows may reduce energy and fertiliser expenditure by several thousand pounds per year, depending on farm operations and usage.
The idea for the BioNomad originated in Latin America, where founder Dr. Adler saw how simple, decentralised waste‑to‑energy systems could support rural livelihoods. Dr Adler recognised that the core challenges around waste management were remarkably similar across both developed and emerging markets.
This led him to design a system tailored for colder climates, smaller farms, and the regulatory landscape of the UK and Europe.
According to EcoNomad, small and mid‑sized livestock farms across the UK and Europe face a triple challenge: rising energy and fertiliser costs, tightening regulations around slurry and waste management, and pressure to reduce methane emissions, with agriculture being one of the largest sources of man‑made methane globally.
Yet most existing anaerobic digestion systems are built for large farms, making them too expensive, too complex, or simply too big for smaller operators.
EcoNomad’s technology is already deployed on 10+ farms across the UK, with additional installations in Africa, and successful trials with insect farms, food waste streams, and integrated renewable systems combining biogas, solar and wind to charge batteries for electric vehicles.
The company’s core focus is dairy, beef, pig and poultry farms, including off‑grid and rural communities, in the UK, Europe and beyond.
Over the next few years, EcoNomad Solutions aims to evolve the BioNomad into a fully automated, plug‑and‑play system, making operation even simpler for farmers. Alongside product optimisation, the company is focused on scaling commercial deployment across the UK before exploring expansion into Europe and emerging markets, with the long‑term ambition of making on‑farm waste‑to‑energy more accessible for small farms.
Source: EU-Startups
