PARIS — March 14, 2023 — In six years, JEC Composites Startup Booster has become a reference for entrepreneurship in the composites industry worldwide. Hundreds of entrepreneurs, SMEs, startups and academic spinoffs have submitted their application in the past months, and among them, 20 have been selected as finalists: they will join us on stage at JEC world in April to pitch their project before a panel of expert judges.
Launched in 2017, the JEC Composites Startup Booster is a unique opportunity to network and shine a light on what will be the future of the composites industry. It has been organized in three different regions (Europe, USA and Asia) and has already fostered the emergence of 700+ innovative projects from 60+ countries, making it an irrefutable springboard for any participant internationally!
This year’s competition is sponsored by Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and Owens Corning as Main Innovation Partners, and Mitsubishi Chemical Group as Innovation Partner.
JEC Composites Startup Booster 2023 in a nutshell
The 20 finalists are divided into two categories:
- Process, Manufacturing & Equipment
- Products & Materials
The jury includes representatives from major manufacturers and investors:
- Jelle Bloemhof, head of Manufacturing Technologies, Airbus
- Karl-Heinz Fueller, manager Future Outside & Materials, Mercedes-Benz
- Raphael Salapete, R&T Plan manager, Ariane Group
- Christer Larsson, founding partner, The Impact Fellowship
- Tim Vorage, Global Growth manager & founder of Business Incubator Growth Garage, Mitsubishi Chemical Group
Two pitching sessions of 10 presentations each will be held in the Agora stage (Hall 6), on Tuesday, April 25th , at 10 am for the category Products & Materials and at 4.30 pm for the category: Process, Manufacturing & Equipment. Three winners will be chosen by the jury and one winner for the sustainable aspects of the project.The awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April, 26th at 3 pm.
Startups Booster Finalists JEC World 2023
Category “Products & Materials”
- Agrona (Egypt)
- ALD Technical Solutions (USA)
- Algreen (UK)
- Cobratex (France)
- Grafren (Sweden)
- Green Gen Technologies (France)
- Hycco (France)
- INCA Renewable Technologies (Canada)
- Mushroom Material (Singapore)
- Mussel Polymers Mussel Polymers (USA)
Category “Process, Manufacturing & Equipment”
- Addyx (Italy)
- Catack-H (Korea)
- Composite Recycling (Switzerland)
- Lineat Composites (UK)
- Microwave Solutions (Switzerland)
- Nova Carbon (France)
- Plyable (UK)
- Synthesites (Belgium)
- TerraWaste (Netherlands)
- Thermolysis (Taiwan)
Category “Products & Materials”
Agrona (Egypt): Making Wood Without Cutting a Single Tree
Two Billion trees are cut down every year just to supply wood to the furniture and the construction industry making deforestation the second leading cause of climate change. Agrona manufactures the first 100 percent eco-friendly wood panels in the world out of agri waste and bio-based resins without cutting a single tree. For every ton of panels produced by Agrona that helps to save three trees and avoid five hundred cubic meters of CO2 emissions. Agrona’s aims to expand it is operations to Europe in the next 2 years.
ALD Technical Solutions (USA): Empowering The Grid and Renewable Energies Through Advanced Composite Materials and Solutions
ALD Technical Solutions, a cleantech woman-owned enterprise, is commercializing patented Composite WiRe Wrap™ and GridWrap™ technologies that increase grid infrastructural strength and integrity while doubling power transmission capacity — with no downtime. This is a key requirement for achieving safe, cost-effective, resilient, and reliable 100 percent renewable energy goals.
Algreen (UK): Algreen provides the most sustainable solutions to petrol-based polyurethanes, which represent 8% of world plastics
Algreen provides the most sustainable solutions to petrol-based polyurethanes, which represent 8% of world plastics. Polyurethane foam, adhesive and coating are widely used in automotive, cosmetic, packaging, and fashion industries. Conventional polyurethanes come from carbon intensive petrol refineries and end their life in landfill generating significant Greenhouse Gases. Algreen invents fully biobased and biodegradable polyurethanes eliminating petrol-based polyurethanes. The global polyurethane market will be 29.2 million tons (2029). By replacing 1 percent of petrol-based polyurethane, Algreen eliminates 88bn kgCO2eq annually.
Cobratex (France): Enabling Industry to have a positive impact on the Environment by bringing bamboo in composite materials
COBRATEX manufactures innovative bamboo reinforcements using its patented technology to extract bamboo strips that are then welded together to obtain a unique continuous ribbon of unidirectional fibres. This ribbon is very different to the standard rovings. It is a composite structure by itself as it is composed of fibre bundles and closed honeycomb-like structures, offering a sustainable alternative with many technical advantages. COBRATEX provides the full range of reinforcements:
• Dry Fabrics: UD and woven
• Prepreg Fabrics: thermoplastic and thermoset
Grafren (Sweden): Enabling Multifunctional and Green Composite Materials by Graphene Nanoscale Coating
Grafren AB has a proprietary technology on manufacturing the high quality graphene materials and coating of the fibers-based substrates. Coating occurs on the fibers surface – nanoscale level via layer-by-layer mode, and is therefore extremely uniform, thin and lightweight. Since graphene is electrically and thermally conductive and fire and mechanically resistant, coating only 4-5 grammes of graphene per square meter of the fibres is enabling the new functionalities to the composites, favouring their way to the market.
Green Gen Technologies (France): Let’s develop together your eco-designed containers
Green Gen Technologies is a French start-up founded in 2017 that aims to revolutionise the packaging industry. These containers are made in France from bio-based, renewable and biodegradable materials.
Hycco (France): HYCCO Develops Carbon Fiber Bipolar Plates for the Next Generation of Hydrogen Fuel Cells
HYCCO has developed a new concept of bipolar plates, a key component of hydrogen fuel cells, which represents 75% of their weight for 30% of their cost. The materials used simultaneously increase the lifetime of the fuel cells (x4) and reduce their weight (-50% to -90%), without compromising their compactness. With a prototype production line in place, HYCCO® aims to deploy a pilot production line of carbon fiber bipolar plates for hydrogen fuel cells by 2024.
INCA Renewable Technologies (Canada): Developing stronger, lighter, cost competitive, sustainable bio-composites for the automotive, RV, marine, wind and consumer plastics industries.
INCA innovates and manufactures high performance, cost competitive, and sustainable composite substitutes for petroleum-based plastics, rainforest plywood and balsa wood. Our team pioneered use of natural fiber for the automotive industry and have now created the next generation of patented prepreg for Toyota. We have also developed natural fiber composite solutions for Winnebago, Gurit and others. We are acquiring fiber from industrial hemp grown on the Canadian Prairie for protein and will refine it to automotive standards in Alberta, Canada.
Mushroom Material (Singapore): Sustainable Packaging
We’ve developed a mushroom-based alternative to polystyrene (Styrofoam) by combining agricultural waste with the root structure of mushrooms, better known as “mycelium”. Our material is completely sustainable and 100-percent biodegradable. It has the same protective properties as polystyrene and naturally degrades in your garden or landfill.
Mussel Polymers Mussel Polymers (USA): Developing Specialty Coatings that Adhere to Wet and Low Energy Surfaces and Enhance Surface Functionality with Applications in Composite Strengthening.
Mussel Polymers manufactures and sells a biomimetic version of the glue that mussels use to stick to rocks. Poly (catechol-styrene) binds to wet and low energy surfaces and confers valuable surface functionalization. MPI partners with companies to develop new solutions for their customers. Current products or those in development include an innovative coral adhesive for use in aquariums and reef restoration, an underwater adhesive (US Navy), anti-corrosion primers, dental adhesives and remineralization agents, and a composite-strengthening sizing for carbon fibers.
Category “Process, Manufacturing & Equipment”
Addyx (Italy): Unlock the Full Potential of Advanced Composite Materials with Topological Optimization and Innovative Manufacturing Solutions.
Addyx is revolutionizing the design and manufacturing of complex-shaped hollow high-performance composites through innovative additive manufacturing techniques and advanced topology optimization. Our patented water-soluble inflatable mandrel, together with the patented Carbon exoskeleton technology, enables greater design freedom, reduced manufacturing costs, and lighter and stronger composite components. Join us in opening new frontiers for the composites industry.
Catack-H (Korea): CFRTP Recycling via an eco-friendly and Sustainable Solvolysis Process.
Catack-H is an innovative recycling company that uses a 100% eco-friendly technology to recover high-quality recycled carbon fibers from waste carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), materials that would otherwise go to the landfill or get incinerated.
Composite Recycling (Switzerland): Closing the loop on Composite Materials.
Composite Recycling has developed a highly energy efficient and sustainable process to separate the resin from the fibres. With the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the team has designed a post-treatment to clean the fibres and make them reusable in new composites, closing the loop.
Lineat Composites (UK): Forming the Future of High-Performance Sustainable Composites.
Lineat Composites is an advanced cleantech manufacturing start-up based in Bristol (UK). It uses its patented Aligned Formable Fibre Technology (AFFTTM) to produce next generation advanced carbon fibre composites, solving key problems related to cost, productivity and sustainability. The process turns low value chopped fibres into a new highly aligned fibre material that can compete with continuous fibre performance, closing the loop for technical carbon fibre re-use and bringing unique forming advantages for faster and more complex part manufacturing.
Microwave Solutions (Switzerland): Imagineering Circular Composites.
Agile and modular circular composites solution: Selective de-polymerization of the matrix into valuable monomers, oligomers, and hydrocarbon products; recovery of high quality glass fibres, carbon fibres and fillers and carbon conversion to nanomaterials.
Nova Carbon (France): High-Performance Sustainable Carbon Fiber Semi-Finished Products.
Nova Carbon’s mission is to democratise the use of carbon fibre by developing a range of high performance semi-finished products made from carbon fiber waste. Our disruptive approach is based on Long Fiber Realignment, a technology patented by the University of Bordeaux that maintains the high performance of carbon fiber. Nova Carbon semi-finished products are designed for the composites industry.
Plyable (UK): Automating the Design and Manufacture of Composite Tooling.
Plyable is a first-of-its-kind solution. We use the latest in AI and machine learning technology to create a proprietary software that automates the design and manufacture of composite tooling. All the user needs to do is drag and drop component CAD data into Plyable. The Plyable portal can then automatically generate a tool design, provide instantaneous prices for manufacture in a variety of different materials and deliver to your door. Plyable has taken a multi week process and condensed it down to seconds!
Synthesites (Belgium): Intelligent Process Monitoring for Composites: Cure it Faster and Better.
Synthesites is aiming in automating the curing process of composites, in order to save up to 100% extra curing time. Since 2015, Synthesites developed the Online Resin State software that provides on the spot and accurately the glass transition temperature of a thermoset under curing. After tested successfully in a wide variety of liquid resins, prepregs or adhesives, Synthesites is working with the leading OEMS in aerospace and wind energy to apply this technology in serial production.
TerraWaste (Netherlands): Next-generation Advanced Material Company that is Turning Waste into New, Circular Materials.
TerraWaste is developing a platform technology which focuses on recycling plastics, dry, wet and mixed waste through an advanced chemical recycling pollution-free process resulting in high-value chemicals, oil and biochar. The technology used for this process is a high-pressure/high-temperature Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) system whose design includes highly efficient use of energy, water and catalysts producing zero waste whilst converting waste plastics into value.
Thermolysis (Taiwan): Recycled Carbon Fiber Boosts Both Environmental Sustainability and Remarkable Strength.
The Thermolysis’s Recycled carbon fiber is an excellent choice for those who prioritize environmental sustainability and strength. This material is made from recycled carbon fibers, which reduces waste and supports sustainability efforts. Additionally, it has remarkable strength and durability, making it a popular choice in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, and construction. Choosing recycled carbon fiber not only benefits the environment but also provides top-notch performance.
Posted: March 14, 2023
Source: JEC Group
