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Project presentations on the website
Every project supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung is made accessible with a web presentation that informs about the core data of the project. With this public presentation, the foundation publishes the funding results achieved and contributes to the communication of science to society.
Symactiv – Bring Degraded Soil Back to Life
Editorial
Für den Inhalt der Angaben zeichnet die Projektleitung verantwortlich.
Cooperation
Dieses von der Gebert Rüf Stiftung geförderte Projekt wird von folgenden weiteren Projektpartnern mitgetragen:
Project data
- Project no: GRS-021/24
- Amount of funding: CHF 50'000
- Approved: 28.05.2024
- Duration: 08.2024 - 03.2025
- Area of activity: First Ventures, seit 2018
Project management
- Phillippe Schläpfer
- ZHAW
- INUR/ICBT
- Rickenstrasse 73
- 9630 Wattwil (Schweiz)
- phillippe.schlaepfer@symactiv.ch
Project description
Every day, the world loses the equivalent of 45,000 football fields of fertile soil. This alarming reality led us to create Symactiv. Our vision is to build soils full of life that can nourish future generations. We’ve developed a biobased soil activator – a pellet made from wood, biochar, fermented food industry residues, and beneficial microorganisms. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all solution, we tailor our pellets to specific soil conditions, supporting a stable, biodiverse soil ecosystem. Farmers use our solution to regenerate their soils, improve yields, and sequester up to 2 tons of CO per hectare per year.
Status/Results
After validating our concept during Phillippe’s master’s thesis at ZHAW, we scaled up production, applied over 1 ton of pellets, and conducted 5 on-farm trials and 2 controlled lab
trials. Results show increased yields, improved soil respiration, nutrient availability, and aggregate stability. We’ve now partnered with 20 farmers and built collaborations with FiBL, Agroscope, Juckerhof, Kernser Edelpilze and Future Food Farming. With BRIDGE funding secured, we are preparing 40 new field trials this season and focusing on product testing, technical optimization, and large-scale impact validation.
trials. Results show increased yields, improved soil respiration, nutrient availability, and aggregate stability. We’ve now partnered with 20 farmers and built collaborations with FiBL, Agroscope, Juckerhof, Kernser Edelpilze and Future Food Farming. With BRIDGE funding secured, we are preparing 40 new field trials this season and focusing on product testing, technical optimization, and large-scale impact validation.
Links
Persons involved in the project
Phillippe Schläpfer, Co-Founder and CTO
Louis Becker, Co-Founder and CEO
Alana Amaro, Lead Fundraising
Yannick Orrù, Lead Researcher
Emmanuel Jacob, Communications
Lasse Pitkaniemi, IT and Marketing
Louis Becker, Co-Founder and CEO
Alana Amaro, Lead Fundraising
Yannick Orrù, Lead Researcher
Emmanuel Jacob, Communications
Lasse Pitkaniemi, IT and Marketing
Last update to this project presentation 08.04.2025