The Organica Story
Organica was established in 1998 with the purpose of developing and implementing environmentally sustainable ecological wastewater treatment technologies in Central and Eastern Europe. Within a year the company attracted a number of investors including, at the end of 1999, the venture capital fund Environmental Investment Partners (EIP). EIP was established by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Swiss Government, and other European institutional investors for the purpose of investing in the fledgling environmental industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2001, under Organica’s management leadership, six environmental companies were merged into one of Hungary’s largest environmental service providers. The activities of the merged company under the name of Körte-Organica included the design, build and operation of industrial and municipal treatment plants, remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater, equipment manufacturing, and manufacturing of water and wastewater treatment chemicals.
In December 2006, Organica Technologies (OT) and French-based Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS, the world’s largest multinational water and wastewater D&B Company) formed a joint venture (JV). The OVWS JV was formed to take over wastewater treatment plant design, build and operation activities in Hungary. In 2009 OT sold its share in OVWS to Veolia which allowed Organica to subsequently focus solely on the development and international rollout of the Organica Technology; as a result of this last transaction, OT is now a completely independent entity from VWS.
Independently of the VWS relationship, in 2008 Organica secured investment from two international venture capital funds, Cleanwater Fund (managed by RNK Capital, New York) and Gamma Capital (Austria) to fund the next phase of the international introduction of the technology. In the 12 months following the investment, Organica launched a partner search process to develop a project pipeline base; establish an internal infrastructure capable of handling the anticipated business; and attracted additional funding for its technology development program.
The exposure to the international marketplace revealed a strong and positive response that exceeded already high expectations. Key players in the industry now regard this technology as revolutionary and unique in its ability to respond to a wide and quickly growing market demand. Today, in 2010, Organica retains its headquarters in Budapest and has a joint venture company in China, based in Shenzhen. We also have a subsidiary company in Singapore that serves as our regional Asia-Pacific HQ, and we are seeing rapidly developing opportunities throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
Attila and István used to sing together in a boys' choir
Attlia Bodnár and István Kenyeres today