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Four Norwegian entities - energy company Equinor, oil exploration and development company Aker BP, independent research organization SINTEF and classification society DNV - have signed an agreement to develop technology and methods aimed at the capture of millions of tons of CO2 through sugar kelp cultivation. The project involves cultivating large amounts of sugar kelp on long ropes connected to buoys set out to sea.
The pilot project, Seaweed Carbon Solutions, will run until 2024, and then, if all goes to plan, transition into a commercial phase with one or more large facilities off the coast of Trøndelag. The goal is to demonstrate the potential of the technology for carbon capture on an industrial scale.

Read on to learn more about this story and the week's most relevant technology news impacting business.

Dorfner, a family-owned Bavarian business that mines and refines industrial minerals, is using data and AI to tie its past to its future and transform its business model.

The company, which was founded in 1895 and owns one of the most significant kaolin and silica sand deposits in Germany (see the photo), makes functional fillers for paints, composite materials and construction materials. Today the family-owned holding company has subsidiaries in Poland and in the U.S. and a joint venture in India.

Like many of Europe’s SMEs, Dorfner found it itself facing several challenges, including succession issues and the fact that there is very little room for growth in its core businesses. As part of a new corporate strategy, the company has started using cutting-edge tech to transform itself from a company offering a sole product and raw material to one that additionally offers services tied to its core business that help its clients solve supply chain shortages and become greener. As a first step it is applying AI tothe fillers in paint to create alternative formulations and make them more sustainable.

Dorfner’s journey offers valuable insights into how Europe’s traditional businesses can build effective innovation strategies, leapfrog into the digital age, and make climate-friendly products.

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Multiverse, a Spanish quantum-inspired software company, permits corporates to gain some of the key advantages of quantum computing while the world waits for the fully developed technology to be ready for prime time. The company is currently offering its quantum-inspired software, which runs on both classical computing equipment and quantum computers, to clients in ten different verticals. Customers include BBVA, Crédit Agricole, Banco Itaú, Bosch Automotive, Bank of Canada, BASF, Repsol, Acciona, ZF and Ikerlan.
Multiverse is one of dozens of deep tech startups that will be presenting at Puzzle-X, a conference in Barcelona taking place November 15-17. The Innovator is a media partner of the event.

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Percentage of executives in the latest PwC Pulse survey that cite cyber attacks as the number one business risk. While cyber topped the list, worries over talent acquisition and retention (38%) and rising production costs (34%) were close behind. Among the less-frequently-cited risks were geopolitical factors like U.S.-China relations (27% of respondents consider this a serious risk), a prolonged conflict in Ukraine (22%), and U.S. societal unrest (17%). Recession was also well down on the list of business risks (only 30% consider it a serious risk, despite 60% of executives saying a recession is likely in the next year.)