LUCKY PLANTS FOR HAPPY CUSTOMERS

ALUMNUS IN DE KIJKER

She grew up in Kyiv, studied Electromechanical Engineering at Group T Campus Leuven, followed the Postgraduate Programme in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and now she runs an agro-food company in Kinrooi (Belgium). Uliana Durbak from Ukraine has come a long way as an engineer-entrepreneur to bring a unique product onto the market. A portrait of a role model for present and future engineers.

Uliana literally means 'daughter of Jupiter' (Jove), the supreme god of classical antiquity. No wonder there is a divine spark in her. Uliana's mission is to help farmers around the world increase their yields and income with the help of innovative technologies. Together with her father, she developed a technique for repotting plants quickly and efficiently. Uliana's innovation is now patent-pending and Lucky Plants is ready to make its entrance into the market.

Highly ranked

In 2015, Uliana started her engineering studies at Group T Campus Leuven. Previously, she had already spent a year going to school in Brighton, England, so she did not enter the international scene unprepared. “My choice for Leuven was quickly made,” Uliana says. “I was looking for a top-ranked university in Western Europe with a complete English engineering programme. KU Leuven - Group T Campus quickly came into the picture.”

The choice of a major was not a problem for Uliana either. “Electromechanical Engineering is by far the most versatile programme that allows you to go in all directions. This also applies to the Clinical Engineering option that I took. The Postgraduate Programme in Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Engineering offered me the chance to work on the professional skills needed to run a business myself. You must know that about every member of my family in Ukraine has their own business, so I feel predestined to become an entrepreneur too”.

Blueberries

In Ukraine, the Durbak family is known. Uliana's father runs a farm specialised in growing blueberries. Because the plants must be repotted up to four times, father Durbak produced an ingenious technique to speed up transplanting. Together with his daughter Uliana, he developed a system that makes transplanting blueberries, raspberries, and other small fruits five to ten times faster and virtually effortless. “SmartyCoir works with coconut substrate,” Uliana explains.

Uliana Durbak

© Julie Feyaerts

“This substrate replaces the usual growing soil in the pots or containers. This method offers the advantage that the process is fully controlled. Adding water and nutrients happens in exactly the right dosage. In addition, it drastically reduces the physical labour involved in moving the plants. Transplanting directly in the field requires no additional movements, so no extra staff is needed. After repotting, there are in principle no surpluses of substrate either, which in turn benefits the sustainability of production”.

Incubator

On the advice of Marc Van Aken, Uliana’s coach in the postgraduate programme, she took her business idea to Flanders Investment & Trade and the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Enterprise (VLAIO). This provided her with a two-year subsidy. Via VLAIO, Lucky Plants – named after her father's company – was able to move into Agropolis, an incubator and business site in Kinrooi. “We rent a business unit there where we can produce and stock,” Uliana continues. “Our test field is 3.5 hectares. We test our products on various types of plants and crops. Agropolis is an inspiring environment. Most of the residents are starters in agrofood with innovative ideas and a lot of ambition, but sometimes also with uncertainties and doubts, because those are part of the game too.” This year, Lucky Plants will launch the SmartyCoir product on the market and start selling the coconut substrate. Engineer entrepreneur Uliana is optimistic about it.

“Agriculture and fruit cultivation are going through a difficult period right now because of the spiralling costs. Our products make labour, time, and energy significantly cheaper. With this, we want to give the agrofood sector a new wind in its sails and make it attractive to young entrepreneurs. Hopefully, we will be as lucky as our plants”.

Yves Persoons

www.lucky-plants.com