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Among Europe’s composites powerhouses, the Netherlands stands out for its uniquely integrated and collaborative approach to innovation. While other countries often specialize in specific segments, like aerospace in France or automotive in Germany, the Dutch ecosystem has built a remarkably balanced and agile framework around thermoplastic composites (TPC), automation and sustainability.

At its core lies a long industrial heritage. Companies like TenCate (now Toray Advanced Composites) and Fokker (now GKN Fokker) laid the foundation decades ago, embedding TPC into the country’s industrial DNA. Today, a new generation of entrepreneurs is scaling that expertise through digital manufacturing, circularity and novel material systems.

Dutch startup highlight: From vision to large-scale printing

CEAD B.V. (Delft, Netherlands) is one of many trailblazing startups in the Netherlands’ composites ecosystem. I first encountered the company during my tenure as head of innovation strategy at SGL Carbon, while scouting emerging automated composite deposition technologies. I still remember CEAD CEO Lucas Janssen picking me up at the train station in Delft. With him and CTO Maarten Logtenberg, we entered their first industrial hall housing CEAD’s first extrusion system. Even at that time, I was impressed by the team’s professionalism and expertise.

CEAD has since grown into an international technology leader, with a portfolio spanning large-format 3D printing and robotic composite deposition systems. Today, the company’s technologies produce everything from industrial tools to full-scale boat hulls, demonstrating how digital manufacturing can unlock new geometries, efficiencies and applications.

A common thread unites these ventures: turning sustainability and efficiency into competitive advantage.

CEAD embodies the next wave of Dutch composites, combining additive manufacturing (AM) with automation to make large-scale production a reality. “The lack of automation is what has held composites back from large-scale implementation,” Janssen adds. “That’s changing with digitally driven systems like the CEAD Flexbot.”

As Lucas Janssen explains, “The secret sauce is twofold: A long history both in thermoset but especially in thermoplastics with companies like TenCate and Fokker. Today, composites are deeply rooted in business, education and research, with the NLR, SAM XL, TPAC/TPRC, Brightland Materials Center and TNO driving innovation.”

But CEAD’s success reflects an even wider trend in the Netherlands region: the  fostering of an ecosystem where startups can experiment, scale and contribute to a collaborative network.

A fertile ground for startups

From Delft to Geleen, dense clusters of ventures tackle global challenges — from reducing waste to automating production — but with a distinctly Dutch mindset that is pragmatic, data-driven and collaborative.

Startups such as Circularise, Eve Reverse, Curve Works, Spiral Recycled Thermoplastic Composites and Eddytec focus on circularity, automation and digitalization. Others, like Arceon and Electron Aerospace, are pushing boundaries in aerospace and high-performance materials such as ceramic matrix composites (CMC)  and high-temperature systems for batteries.

Despite their diverse approaches, a common thread unites these ventures: turning sustainability and efficiency into competitive advantage. Whether through software, smart materials or robotic automation, Dutch startups are demonstrating that innovation scales best when knowledge is shared. And it’s this linking up of startups, established players, research institutes and government programs that enables information, processes and expertise to flow freely across the value chain.

Eddytec, for example, develops enabling technologies for fast and simple carbon fiber composite testing, solving a key bottleneck for large-scale adoption. Founder Alina Chanaewa highlights the startup’s broader role: “The success of the Dutch composites ecosystem lies in several key factors. First, there’s the close cooperation between major companies, which is facilitated by the pragmatic, can-do mentality typical of the Netherlands. Government support, particularly programs like Luchtvaart in Transitie, provides funding for novel aerospace manufacturing methods. Finally, CompositesNL fosters community engagement through industry exposure at events such as JEC World. Together, these elements create an ecosystem where collaboration and practical innovation thrive.”

Eddytec also acts as a bridge internationally, representing Dutch deep-tech startups on trade missions and helping the ecosystem gain visibility abroad

High-tech ventures like Arceon benefit from, and contribute to, a tightly connected network that bridges research and real-world application. Similarly, Curve Works relies on the ecosystem for knowledge development, while sharing its own innovations to support other players.

Circularity naturally thrives in this collaborative framework. Spiral Recycled Thermoplastic Composites has industrialized TPC recycling, providing the missing link for true circular solutions. As co-founder Winand Kok notes, the key is combining technical expertise with network connections, “know-how and know-who,” so the entire ecosystem can claim genuine circularity.

In the Netherlands, collaboration and sustainability are inseparable: The more openly companies share knowledge, the faster they innovate and embed circular practices across the value chain.

Anchored by world-class institutions and investors

Behind the entrepreneurial momentum lies a backbone of research and education. TU Delft hosts what is said to be Europe’s largest aerospace faculty, while applied research hubs such as Brightlands Materials Center, TPAC and SAM XL accelerate industry uptake.

“It’s a tightly knit ecosystem, with much of the supply chain present and a group of excellent knowledge centers,” observes Marcus Kremers, CTO of Airborne and Eve Reverse. Many large players are here because of strong intellectual property — Toray, GKN, Collins, Daher, Avient, Teijin. CompositesNL brings this all together.”

Airborne’s decades-long presence has made it a national innovation engine, driving automation in composites manufacturing and spawning new ventures like Strohm in TPC spoolable pipes.

Supporting this vibrant startup ecosystem is a well-developed investor infrastructure, spanning institutional investors, corporate strategic partners, venture capital and private equity. Olav Aagaard, technical director at Infinity Recycling, highlights both strengths and challenges.

“The Netherlands has built a strong reputation in high-tech, circular materials and manufacturing innovation, with world-class research hubs and tight industry-academia links accelerating composites scale-up. The ecosystem also benefits from industrial anchors and EU-backed facilities that de-risk first-of-a-kind production. The remaining challenge is the Series B+ funding gap for capital-intensive hardware, where growth capital and tech-savvy underwriting are critical to unlocking institutional investment. Dutch investors are well-positioned to lead in scaling composites and AM, especially if they adopt patient, long-term capital strategies and leverage EU policy tailwinds.”

This combination of private capital, strategic industrial involvement and public support creates a nurturing environment for startups to scale while remaining closely connected to research and industry.

A model worth emulating

Between industrial heritage, research excellence, and a culture of collaboration, the Netherlands offers a model for scaling composites  sustainably. From CEAD’s robotic printing to Arceon’s hypersonic materials, Curve Works’ reconfigurable molds, Spiral’s recycling systems and Eddytec’s enabling technologies, the country demonstrates how trust, openness and pragmatism accelerate technology adoption.

As the global composites industry seeks pathways to scale sustainably, the Dutch approachmay well be its most promising blueprint.