Partners to recycle carbon fibre prepregs
Composites
Oversubscribed funding round for Fairmat
Newly-inaugurated automated sorting plant will host more than a hundred robots and handle up to 3,500 metric tons of composites scrap per year.
28th November 2022
Innovation in Textiles
|
Paris
Paris-headquartered carbon fibre recycling company Fairmat has completed a Series A funding round raising €34 million and bringing its total funding so far to €44 million.
In the two years since its founding, Fairmat says it has secured more than 35% of European carbon scrap supply, generating commercial interest for its products, opening its first factory and building a team in line with its aspirations.
It has signed partnerships with 15 industrial companies to collect their carbon fibre waste, including Hexcel, Tarmac Aerosave, Siemens Gamesa, Dassault Aviation and MerConcept. It is operating in a highly concentrated market, with those 15 companies representing more than 35% of carbon fibre composite waste in Europe.
The company will use the funds to accelerate the deployment of its robotised industrial capabilities, including the ramp-up of its newly inaugurated automated sorting plant, which will host more than a hundred robots and be able to handle up to 3,500 metric tons of composites scrap per year. Additionally, the company will be expanding internationally into new markets, starting with the USA in 2023 and Spain and Germany soon after. As part of this expansion, Fairmat also expects to grow its global team from 80 in 2022 to 400 people by 2025, seeking to recruit the best talent in robotics and data science.
Fairmat is aiming to leverage its materials business unit for greater sustainability impact in sectors such as consumer electronic goods, mobility, sports and leisure.
“Recycling advanced materials like carbon fibre composites is one of the strongest actions we can take to accelerate the decarbonisation of the manufacturing sector,” said Ben Saada, Fairmat CEO. “We are thrilled to see our vision of a next generation of materials come to life as we are accelerating our production and expanding our international development.”
The oversubscribed financing operation was co-led by Singapore investment company Temasek and the Belgian group Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille.
Business intelligence for the fibre, textiles and apparel industries: technologies, innovations, markets, investments, trade policy, sourcing, strategy...
Find out more