In just eight years, the JEC Composites Startup Booster has established itself as a global reference for entrepreneurship in the composites industry. Over a hundred startups and university spin-offs have submitted their applications for the JEC World 2025 edition, with 20 selected as finalists. From March 4 to 6, these finalists will have the opportunity to present their projects before an expert jury on the JEC World stage in Paris.

Initiated in 2017, the JEC Composites 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 1,100 projects from more than 60 countries. It has become an essential springboard for participants seeking international opportunities.

This year, the competition is organised with the sponsorship of Airbus, Proxxim and Owens Corning as the main innovation partners, with additional support from Mercedes-Benz  and Swancor.

Two pitch sessions, each featuring ten presentations, will take place on the Agora stage in Hall 6 at the Paris Nord-Villepinte exhibition centre on March 4^th, at 10am for the Products and Materials category and at 4:30 PM for the Processes, Manufacturing, and Equipment category

Three winners will be decided by the jury, along with a winner for the sustainable dimension of their project.

The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, March 5th at 5:30pm in Agora 6.

Products and Materials

Finalists in the Products and Materials category include Applied Bioplastics, a US biocomposites developer, Caerostris of France, for its WALL E+ building system based on pultruded profiles, Canada’s CarboMat, a producer of low-cost and sustainable carbon fibres, and Georgia-based Elven Technologies, a developer of fireproof enclosures for lithium-ion batteries

Fiberjoints of Denmark is addressing the shortcomings of bolted joints with patch-type inserts, while Germany’s Flux Polymers has developed a patented UV-activated polymer coating and Incaptek of Switzerland is producing novel fire-extinguishing composite materials.

MCVE Technologie of France has developed multifunctional fabrics for embedding in composite materials. Its EOPROM formulation creates electrical copper circuits and electronic functions for plastic and composite materials via screen printing deposition and copper plating baths.

Woodflow is an advanced timber composite technology that can replace concrete, steel or aluminium marketed by Spain’s Strong by Form, while Netherlands-based Tree Composites is pioneering the use of composite materials for joints in offshore wind foundations.

Process, Manufacturing and Equipment

In the Process, Manufacturing and Equipment category, finalists include the French ADN Group, which has a focus on the eco-design and dismantling process for composite sporting goods, Germany’s Fibclick which is exploting AI-based material simulations and digital twins for the creation of new composite processes, and Fox Composites, also of Germany, which is making lightweight ceramic composites for high-temperature applications.

Singapore’s Nandina REM says it has developed the world’s first aviation-grade circular carbon fibre and Switzerland’s NGNT specialises in the development of surface protective coatings, combining hybrid polymers and nanodiamonds for extreme protection.

3D printing and pultrusion are meanwhile being combined by the USA’s Perseus Materials for freeform continuous moulding and the UK’s Phoenix Carbon has developed recycled woven carbon products said to be 50% cheaper than virgin counterparts with comparable performance.

Finally, Israel’s TemperChip has developed a non-contact temperature machining data measurement device, ThiaX of Denmark is using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technology to map strain and crystallinity in composite parts and Uplift360 of Luxembourg is pioneering a new chemical recycling technology.

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