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WHAT WE DO · THE CUMULATIVE KNOWLEDGE

The people behind the technology

Clear Sky Technology™ did not come from a laboratory shortcut. It came from four founders and a team with 30+ years of experience in industrial production processes, working the same problem until it scaled.

WHO WE ARE

The leading biotechnology company in the North of Chile

Our multidisciplinary team has 30+ years of experience in industrial production processes. An innovative culture is embedded in each person that works at our company, creating a virtuous environment of creativity, innovation and constant improvement.​

We have specialized professional assistance to support new developments, and we keep expanding the range of formats to make the product readily available for any application.

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THE FOUNDERS

Four disciplines, one problem

The four founders and partners of the company led, with perseverance, a research and development project to scale up the production of Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae from the laboratory to industrial level.

BIOCHEMISTRY

Biochemist

Founding partner. Biochemical processes and astaxanthin extraction.

BIOLOGY

Marine Biologist

Founding partner. Microalgae biology and culture behaviour.

PROCESS

Chemical Engineer

Founding partner. Process design and industrial scale-up.

SYSTEMS

Mechanical Engineer

Founding partner. Photobioreactor systems and plant engineering.

The result is a robust proprietary culture technology of closed and open photobioreactors, based on a high level of cleanliness and asepsis.

OUR HISTORY

From laboratory to industrial scale

Four founders begin work in the Atacama Desert, betting that the world's highest solar irradiance is the right way to grow H. pluvialis.

2003

The company is founded

A sustained R&D project to scale microalgae production from laboratory to industrial level — the work that became Clear Sky Technology™.

20 YEARS AND COUNTING

Research and development

Closed and open photobioreactors running year-round, with high stock held in refrigerated warehouse and capacity to expand as the market grows.

TODAY

A 250-acre operation

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OUR LOCATION

The most privileged location to produce astaxanthin

The Atacama is world-famous as an astronomer's paradise because of its pristine atmosphere, away from any agricultural or populated areas. That isolation is a strong warranty for secure algae cultivation with no environmental pollution.

It has the highest solar irradiance in the world, and we count on pure underground water from the Andes Mountains.

OUR GOALS

A long-term win-win commercial relationship

RELIABLE SUPPLY

Capacity you can plan around

  • High stock in a refrigerated warehouse, ready to supply all the product that is needed

  • Existing large production capacity

  • Production can be increased many times, as the market needs

COMPETITIVE PRICES

Now and in the long run, because of

  • High solar radiation and low energy-consuming technology

  • Low-cost non-fertile marginal land

  • Water reuse

  • A country with competitive cost of inputs, energy and personnel

  • Permanent high investment in R&D to optimize the technology

TECHNOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY

In the words of our production manager

MARIO CALDERÓN

Production Manager · Marine Biologist · Founding Partner

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"We have developed a process, a technology, that allows our Haematococcus pluvialis to grow in a similar environment as found in nature — that is why we say that our microalgae is happy. It lives in ponds facing the sun and open to the unpolluted atmosphere of the Atacama Desert, resembling its natural life cycle. We assimilate to the concept of free-range culture. So when we harvest it, we are very sure that it has lived its life naturally and not exposed to artificial methods of growth. This way of production creates a microalga that has a natural balance of carotenoids — mainly astaxanthin, but also lutein, canthaxanthin and zeaxanthin — that act all together in a synergistic way for a healthy and colorful performance."
 
"Our process is very environmentally friendly as it captures CO₂ from the air, helping to reduce global warming. This makes a big difference with other companies that use the fermentation chemical process from fungus or bacteria to produce astaxanthin, because those processes release CO₂ to the atmosphere. Others use artificial light to culture microalgae, getting more production but changing its natural energy source. The astaxanthin molecule produced by our microalgae is the same as the one that has always been in the human food chain."

Talk to the people who make it

Technical questions, regulatory documentation or supply planning — you'll be talking directly with the team that runs the process.

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