StartupRealities

Startup No 183 - StartupRealities 2020 series OpenSEZ is a real estate and industrial park developer which creates and operates Special Economic Zones (SEZ) on greenfield sites. The SEZ have the backing of national governments and offer preferential tax treatment, autonomous rule of law, subsidised healthcare, free education and free internet for all residents and employees in the SEZ. Key geographical areas of interest for the company are unpopulated border zones along the coast of Africa, so that each SEZ straddles two jurisdictions. This creates a healthy internal competition between the two national sections of the SEZ, which are run autonomously and often under different rules and legislation. The SEZ also aim to be self-sufficient in energy (generated by solar panel farms in the vicinity) and water (produced using new energy-efficient osmosis desalination technology). CEO QUOTE "Our company's name is OpenSEZ but we are popularly known as Open Sesame! We create miracles o...

StartupRealities No 6 DesertPlantations Limited is an international startup investing in desert land in coastal areas in northern Chile, Namibia and Western Australia and converting the acquired coastal land into fruit and nut plantations and vineyards. The coastal farms are irrigated with desalinated ocean water using inexpensive technology developed by MIT, which does not require any additional energy input for desalination. Rafts of these passive solar-powered desalination systems are floated on the surface of the sea near the shore. The solar rafts produce 6 litres of freshwater per square metre per day. Underwater pipes installed on the seabed connect the rafts and drain the distilled freshwater into storage tanks on land. Drip irrigation systems on the farms are turned on only during the night to minimise water loss. --- AGRICULTURE The output of the desert farms peaks in December-March during the southern hemisphere summer (northern hemisphere winter). The farms supply or...