Company name: Mayahueltec.

Company hometown: Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Leadership team: Aaron Thomas Robinson, CEO; Brittany Sarah Graeff, chief marketing officer; Marco Antonio Ramirez Sorroza, chief technology officer; Michelle Russell Leal, chief operating officer.

Alabama News Center: What is your company’s overall focus and mission?

Aaron Thomas Robinson and Brittany Sarah Graeff: Mayahueltec is an Oaxacan materials technology company, born of the diverse beauty and prodigious natural resources of the landscape that surrounds us. We collect agave bagasse, the residual waste fibers from artisanal mezcal production, and turn it into a 100% compostable bioplastic that can be shaped into multiple and diverse eco-friendly products. In the process, we help clean the land and rivers of Oaxaca for future generations. We turn last night’s cocktails into tomorrow’s eco-conscious products, using our proprietary blend of agave fibers and vegetable starch-derived bioplastics.

Aaron Thomas Robinson is CEO of Oaxaca-based Mayahueltec. (contributed)

ANC: What inspired you to start this company? How do you want to contribute to the future of energy and tech?

Robinson and Graeff: We’ve been living in Oaxaca for a long time now, and we’ve seen the incredible amount of agricultural waste generated by the explosive growth of mezcal. We live in a small town by a river that runs through the largest mezcal-producing region of all of Mexico. The river is a sludgy black, and on a good day, you can smell it; on a hot day, you can all but taste it. We saw all this waste fiber and how it was damaging to our immediate environment, and thought, ‘Hey, we can make something out of this.’ And so, our odyssey took shape. We taught ourselves all about mezcal and bagasse, the fibrous waste left after fermentation, and then applied it to our lives. How would we address this problem? What would or could we use all of this waste fiber for? We have a background in surfing, surfboard building and clothing design, and we just kind of took it from there and ran with it.

Our place in the energy and tech space? We’re at a crossroads of innovation and tradition, using natural fibers to create modern biocomposite materials, and we’re doing it in a way that cleans tons and tons of agricultural waste from the fields and rivers in the place where we live. In the short term, I want our daughter to get to swim in clean water in the Río Salado that passes behind our house. In the long term, we want to grow this product to use more and more different agricultural byproducts not only in Mexico but worldwide, and clean as many fields, rivers and waterways as we can to make the world a better place for future generations.

ANC: What attracted you to the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator?

Robinson and Graeff: Techstars has such an amazing reputation, and in all honesty, it was a shot in the dark. We believe 100% in our company and what we are doing. We really just needed that one thing, that one person, company or accelerator, to believe in us, too. And we went for it and couldn’t be more stoked that they chose us for the Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator.

Brittany Sarah Graeff is chief marketing officer of Mayahueltec. (contributed)

ANC: What is the No. 1 thing you’d like potential investors to understand about your company?

Robinson and Graeff: We are a small company, but what we’re doing is so much bigger than just us. Every consumer wants to do the right thing, but not every consumer can afford to, and with our products, we are hoping to bridge that gap and bring biodegradable and environmentally friendly products into the mainstream.

ANC: What takeaways do you hope to gain for your company by taking part in the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator?

Robinson and Graeff: Honestly, No. 1 is funding. We are looking for investors who want to take this on and help us grow. Also, the sheer invaluable knowledge that Techstars and the Techstars founders and mentors bring to the table – I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and we are here to soak it up like sponges.

ANC: What is your opinion of Birmingham so far?

Robinson and Graeff: Birmingham is a lot smaller than we had expected, and we’re coming from a tiny little town in the south of Mexico. Gotta say we are really enjoying the sandwiches. And the hospitality. Everyone has been open, happy to chat and friendly. And we stumbled upon a punk rock craft fair where we scored some awesome vintage “Star Trek: The Next Generation” plates.

Contact: https://www.mayahueltec.com | Instagram: @mayahueltec

Alabama News Center is posting profiles on Tuesdays and Thursdays of companies in the 2024 Class of startups participating in the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator. Read about Edenic Energy, REN3for and Reverse Energy Solutions.