PARIS — January 25, 2024 — In just seven years, JEC Startup Booster has established itself as a global reference for entrepreneurship in the composites industry. More than 100 entrepreneurs, SMEs, startups, and university spin-offs submitted their applications, with 20 selected as finalists. March 5-7, these finalists will have the opportunity to present their projects before an expert jury on the JEC World stage.
Initiated in 2017, JEC Startup Booster provides an exceptional networking opportunity, offering increased visibility into the future of the composites industry. Held in three regions (Europe, the United States, and Asia), the competition has already fostered the emergence of over 900 innovative projects from more than 60 countries. It has become an essential springboard for participants seeking international opportunities!
This year, the competition is organized with the sponsorship of Airbus and Owens Corning as the main innovation partners, and the Mercedes-Benz Group as the innovation partner:
On the day of the selection of the 20 finalists, Jelle Bloemhof, head of Composites Manufacturing Technologies at Airbus, stated: “Supporting this competition gives us the ability to identify innovations early in the key area of composites that we would not otherwise discover. JEC Startup Booster is just the first step toward broader collaboration opportunities. It facilitates an introduction between participants and industry end-users, providing the opportunity to engage directly and discuss. The diversity of ideas is inspiring, and we look forward to continuing our partnership.”
“Once again this year, the list is exciting and covers a wide range of technologies. Observing the constant improvement and innovation in both technologies and applications is fascinating. They not only reflect industry trends but also play a major role in shaping them. This is significant for us as partners and for JEC World, as it is a rich source of inspiration and opportunities,” said Chris Skinner, vice president of Strategic Marketing and R&D at OWENS CORNING.
Three winners will be designated by the jury, along with one winner for the sustainable dimension of the project.
The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, March 6, at 3:30 PM in Agora 6.
The 2024 Jury:
• Jelle BLOEMHOF, Head of Composites Manufacturing Technologies, AIRBUS
• Karl-Heinz FUELLER, Manager Future Exterior & Materials, MERCEDES-BENZ
• Rebecca RAVENNI, Program Manager and Investment Analyst, TECHSTARS SUSTAINBAILITY PARIS
• Florent ILLAT, Head of Safran Corporate Ventures, SAFRAN
• Chris SKINNER, Vice-President of Strategic Marketing and R&D, OWENS CORNING
Category “Products & Materials”
BioHalo (Denmark) – The Biohalogenation Company
Our mission is to introduce bio-based materials that serve as safe, eco-friendly and high-performance replacements for harmful PFAS.
BioTwin (UK) – Designing and developing low carbon construction materials
BioTwin’s vision is to revolutionise construction and build zero carbon villages and cities for a sustainable world. We want to innovate, collaborate and make a difference in sustainable building materials. We are proud to present our first innovation, a low carbon wall stud made of hemp and resin, which will help the construction sector meet embodied carbon demands.
CARBOCON (Germany) – Leading service provider when it comes to carbon-reinforced concrete
CARBOCON is an independent service provider in the field of the innovative building material carbon-reinforced concrete. We operate in different areas of business, ranging from civil engineering services to introducing new products and processes to the market. In this way, we advocate progress and sustainability in the building industry.
Cellexcel (UK)-Unlocking the use of biomaterials through chemistry
As a chemistry-based technology company, Cellexcel provides the key to unlock the use of biomaterials and radically change industry’s carbon footprint. It does this through molecular modification and not a coating. The Cellexcel™ process chemically modifies the cellulose by delivering and then attaching a compound related to the targeted performance property. By attaching a hydrophobic compound, the resistance to moisture can be positively impacted enabling biomaterials to be used in more demanding applications, that can then lead to the replacement of high embedded emission materials.’
High Temperature Material Systems (UK)-Revolutionizing the high temperature composite materials market
Our core mission is to develop bespoke Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) materials and to push the boundaries of innovation. Through our cutting-edge research and development capabilities, we strive to pioneer novel matrix chemistries that yield improved performance, durability, and functionality.
Nano Electronics (South Korea)-3D Nano Heater utilizing high-conductivity nanowires enables a 90% reduction in electric energy compared to conventional heating wires
By utilizing ultra-fine nano threads through electrospinning, we create copper nanofiber films with high electrical conductivity, resulting in efficient conductive heating elements with exceptional heat transfer capabilities. As a result, we have achieved a nano-surface heating element with up to 89% power efficiency compared to traditional heating wires, providing three times greater heat generation efficiency and instantaneous heating.
RECARBON (Italy)-One-stop Solution in Circular Economy for Carbon Fiber
RECARBON gives new value to carbon fiber wastes, creating, producing, and offering innovative ready-to-use intermediate products based on recycled carbon fiber. RECARBON has developed a functional approach for manufacturing products in the form of both thermoplastic Organosheets, thermoset Prepregs, and sandwich panels, with different combination of skins and cores.
Sargassum Eco Lumber (USA)-Solving the Sargassum and Plastic Crisis Creating High-Quality Eco Lumber for a Cleaner and Greener Future
The proliferation of Sargassum, has become a global concern, notably affecting countries in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America. The issue is compounded by the persistent pollution of polyethylene plastics, primarily MDPE and HDPE, which degrade over decades and release micro plastics that affect marine life and human health. In response, our project, Sargassum Eco Lumber, proposes a novel approach that leverages this environmental challenge by repurposing Sargassum and polyethylene waste into a commercially viable, sustainable building material.
SpacEngineer (Portugal)-Your Partner in green and impact protective composites
In 2018, the problem of small Space debris was presented to SpacEngineer team. Due to the previous experience of the team in the ballistic, in 2019 SpacEngineer was created. The goal of the SpacEngineer was to develop composites, with a high amount of green materials, flexible, and the capability to dissipate a high amount of impact energy. With this objective, Impact2Space was born. Currently, the technology is under validation for aeronautic and aerospace applications.
ZILA BioWorks (USA)-Industrial Bioplastics for a Circular Carbon Economy
ZILA has developed a patented bio-epoxy resin for use in industrial composites, coatings, and adhesives. We have identified clear steps to a 60% reduction in carbon footprint compared to petroleum-based epoxies. And our vitrimer technology can help manufacturers deal with the end of life of their products. ZILA formulates our bio-resin systems so manufacturers can adopt without any retooling.
Category “Process, Manufacturing & Equipment”
CarboScreen (Germany)-Enhancing Carbon Fiber Production with AI-based Online Monitoring
CarboScreen offers cutting-edge sensor technology in combination with AI-based online monitoring to significantly reduce production cost while increasing product quality of carbon fibers and reliability of oven equipment.
Componous (Greece)-Democratizing Photonics
Componous specializes in embedding optical fiber sensors in composite structures. These sensors can monitor multiple analytes with proven field capabilities. Componous revolutionizes the market with cost-effective, in-house-developed sensor readout units with state-of-the-art specifications.
Eddytec (Netherlands)-Defect Detection in Carbon Fiber Composites Made Simple
Eddytec is a spin-out from the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Eddytec’s ambition is to transform defect detection in carbon fibre composites making it fast, simple and affordable. The technology is based on eddy currents and allows for easy detection of cracks and imperfections in a variety of applications including manufacture and maintenance of aircraft, wind turbines and cars. Eddytec’s sensor and software solution reduces measurement time and complexity of data collection and enables technical personnel with various levels of experience to interpret the results increasing usability. The benefits of Eddytec’s product is that it can reduce waste during manufacturing, simplify maintenance and safely extend the lifetime of materials. With that it will contribute to an efficient use of our resources while reducing cost and complexity.
Elementag (Italy)-Nanomarker that blends into any material or product, to make it traceable, authentic and to fight against its counterfeiting
Elementag is the latest technology developed by Particular Materials. It represents a radical innovation for supply chain traceability and anticounterfeiting. By using nanoparticles as inorganic fingerprints that can be applied to virtually any product or material, we can guarantee its authenticity in a quick and reliable way by scanning it with a portable device. Elementag overcomes the main limitations of traditional technologies (QR/barcodes, NFC, RFID): invisible, processing-resistant, hard to replicate and fully embedded.
fiberior (Germany)-Cost Efficient Manufacturing of Hydrogen Pipeline Systems
fiberior – The sustainable solution to the energy transport problem! Through our innovative manufacturing process, we are able to produce a cost-effective pipeline system for the transport and storage of hydrogen. Compared to conventional steel pipelines our system is made of fiber-reinforced thermoplastics. In addition to numerous advantages, they can also be utilized for hydrogen storage in the pipeline grid. This unique feature is a key aspect in enabling the transformation of the energy industry towards renewable energy sources.
Holy Technologies (Germany)-Sustainable lightweight production systems for the 21st century
Holy Technologies is on a mission to lightweight the future of mobility, by designing sustainable production systems that are extremely scalable. Holy is the developer of a machine learning-enhanced additive manufacturing system for composite components. The company helps innovation leaders across industries to make their structural carbon fiber components up to 30% lighter, 50% cheaper and 100% recyclable. The technology addresses 80% of component types, ranging from automotive, medical, and sports equipment, to aerospace and wind turbine blades.
MOB-E-SCRAP (France)-Breakthrough Mechanical Delamination Technology to Recycle Composites
MOB-E-SCRAP is a French startup founded in 2021 to deploy our breakthrough patented delamination technology on various markets: electronic scrap, composites, solar panels, batteries … By submitting composites to high intensity and high frequency impacts, we can separate the fibers (glass, carbon) which keep a length up to 50mm and resin which is pulverized. We have built a demonstrator at industrial scale in France, and we are now looking for partners to deploy our technology on the composite recycling market.
REINFORCE3D (Spain)-Enabling the reinforcement of highly optimized 3D parts with continuous carbon fibres. Let’s go beyond shell-like structures!
Reinforce3D is a start-up aimed to further develop and commercialize the Continuous Fibre Injection Process (CFIP) technology. CFIP is a completely new composite processing method which unlocks new capabilities unimaginable before, such as the ability of to place continuous fibres in all directions following complex trajectories, to reinforce any material including plastics, metals and ceramics, or to integrally join different parts. “Delta” is the first ever commercial CFIP machine, enabling the efficient manufacturing of highly optimized 3D composite structures at industrial scale.
TechnoCarbon Technologies (France)-Building the future of sustainable high performance composites materials with its patended innovation: CarbonFibreStone
TechnoCarbon designs, develops, manufactures and sells components and systems made of the first sustainable, ultra-low-carbon composite material to outperform steel and reinforced concrete. Our patented technologies enable deep decarbonization, lifetime extension, weight and environmental footprint reduction.
3P.COM (South Korea)-Recyclable, Affordable Hydrogen Storage Tanks
3P.COM designs, develops recyclable and affordable hydrogen tanks according to customers’ requirement and specification using a new optimization design methodology and in-house design tools, transfers the technology license and provide prototype hydrogen tanks meeting performing industrial standard safety requirement. 3P.COM has now customers in India, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil and China.
Posted: January 25, 2024
Source: JEC Group
“With a brand’s material choices alone being responsible for over half its total emissions, there’s a dire need for the industry to revisit its chosen fibers. As someone who has long challenged the presence of fossil fuels in fashion and has opted for nature-based solutions instead, Kelsun’s ability to create an option that integrates a renewable source, addresses fashion’s plastics problem, while also eliminating pesticide use and agricultural land use is incredibly promising,” said Aditi Mayer.
