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Italian company (nlcomp, Monfalcone), owner of the patented recyclable composite material technology rComposite, has received more than €500,000 in funding from Invitalia, the Italian National Agency for Development. The funding was granted as part of Smart&Start, a program promoted by MIMIT and managed by Invitalia to support the birth and growth of innovative startups across the country.

Financial contributions from third-party investors will enable nlcomp to convert 50% of the funding into a non-repayable grant and accelerate the development and commercialization of solutions for the nautical industry, including the introduction of a new line of boats to the European market. This responds to the growing demand for eco-friendly solutions and contributes to a more sustainable future for the industry.

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Nlcomp was founded in 2020 by Fabio Bignolini, Piernicola Paoletti and Andrea Paduano, with a mission to reduce the environmental impact of composite constructions through the use of innovative and sustainable materials. The startup has quickly established itself in creating recyclable composite materials, starting with the nautical industry. For instance, the company developed rComposite — which essentially replaces thermoset resins with a thermoplastic matrix — as a solution to the challenge of disposing fiberglass products at their end of life. Additionally, the company focuses on incorporating a combination of natural and synthetic fibers along with recycled carbon fibers into its nautical products, to ensure low environmental impact even during the construction phase of a boat.

Throughout its journey, nlcomp has been selected and supported by important acceleration programs.

“These [new] funds will allow us to advance the development of new sustainable products in the nautical sector, strengthen our R&D activities in new areas we are working on, invest in marketing activities and structure the company with new hires,” says Fabio Bignolini, CEO of nlcomp.

To promote positive change in the sector, nlcomp has made its composite technology available for licensing to other manufacturers, such as Cantiere del Pardo, a European producer of sail and motorboats, which developed the new Grand Soleil Blue model thanks to nlcomp.

“To test rComposite and demonstrate that an alternative solution to fiberglass existed, we have built boats and vertical wind turbine blades with our material over the last few years, which not only succeeded in regattas but also received numerous accolades across Europe,” notes Fabio Bignolini, CEO of nlcomp. “Now we are ready to scale the technology in the nautical sector and begin developing the business in other sectors such as wind energy.”

Ecoracer project in the nautical sector

After initial R&D phases, the nlcomp team decided to start with the nautical sector, where the founding team had the necessary know-how to immediately begin an important project like Ecoracer, claimed to be the world’s first recyclable racing boat.

The first prototype, Ecoracer 25, was awarded European Yacht of the Year at the Düsseldorf Boot and Eco-Focused Boat of the Year at the IBI Metstrade Boat Builders Awards. This prototype also won the Italian Sportboat Championship in 2022, demonstrating that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand.

Following this, thanks to the Call for Innovation by Genoa Blue District, the first commercial racing model named Ecoracer 30 was developed and is currently sailing in major Italian sailing events (read “NLcomp launches recyclable composite sailing boat Ecoracer30” for more details about this project).

Throughout its journey, nlcomp has been selected and supported by important acceleration programs in Italy for the clean-tech sector, such as Zero in 2023, managed by Zest and CDP, and Encubator, managed in Milan by PoliHub. Since 2020, the company has closed two rounds of equity crowdfunding for more than €500,000 and is set to close a €1 million funding round in 2024.