An affordable housing project using 3d printing developed in EAE Barcelona’s incubator reaches the final of the Babson Challenge
- Wasi 3D is a project headed by three EAE Barcelona students that has benefited from the School’s EAE Entrepreneur program.
- Babson Challenge is a competition for startups from different business schools around the world, organized by the highly acclaimed Babson College, a global leader in entrepreneurship.
A project that creates affordable houses using 3D printing, Wasi 3D, which has been developed in EAE Barcelona’s incubator, has made it to the final of the Babson Challenge, a competition for startups from different business schools around the world, organized by the highly acclaimed Babson College, a global leader in entrepreneurship. Wasi 3D is headed by three students at EAE Business School Barcelona, which forms part of Planeta Formación y Universidades: Elinore Cruz, Diego de La Torre and Álvaro Valarezo, who are on a quest to provide a sustainable solution to the global housing problem.
Wasi 3D strives to revolutionize the construction sector, moving on from traditional expensive and time-consuming methods. Like other 3D printing projects, this technique reduces the costs of the houses built by 20% or 25%, as well as cutting the construction time by a third and generating 60% fewer CO2 emissions.
By printed houses, Wasi 3D is tackling the urgent need for social housing that is affordable, scalable, energetically efficient and environmentally friendly. Wasi 3D uses an extrudable material, based on local earth and non-polluting additives, inspired by traditional Peruvian construction techniques.
The project is currently looking for an initial investment of 500,000 euros to cover the costs of machinery, materials and workers to get the venture off the ground.
“EAE Entrepreneur Barcelona has been a crucial part of our journey to get to the final of the Babson Challenge. Right from the start, they gave us access to lots of different experts who gave us detailed feedback on our business model. The experts were not just members of EAE Barcelona, but also external professionals who challenged us to keep honing our value proposition. Moreover, being able to use the facilities of Tech Barcelona really benefited our project, enabling us to work together efficiently and keep highly motivated throughout the entire process”, explained the Wasi 3D team.
