#Composites

2025-01-23

JEC Composites Startup Booster 2025: the twenty finalists revealed

In just eight years, JEC Composites Startup Booster has established itself as a global reference for entrepreneurship in the composites industry. Over a hundred entrepreneurs, startups, and university spin-offs submitted their applications, 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.

Innovative composite materials showcased by JEC Startup Booster finalists, demonstrating cutting-edge advancements in textiles and sustainability © 2025 JEC

Initiated in 2017, 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+ 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, ProxximaTM (An ExxonMobil Product) and Owens Corning as the main innovation partners, and Mercedes-Benz and Swancor as innovation partners.

Pioneering innovations in composites

The JEC Startup Booster 2025 highlights 20 groundbreaking startups advancing products, materials, and manufacturing processes in the composites industry. These finalists represent a dynamic landscape of sustainable materials, digital manufacturing, and cutting-edge recycling solutions.

Among the most textile-relevant startups:

MCVE Technologie (France) – Innovating smart reinforcing fabrics with embedded electrical circuits for composite materials, enabling functionalities like sensors, heaters, and antennas in glass fiber and bio-based textiles.

Phoenix Carbon (UK) – A leader in sustainable woven carbon fiber, producing high-quality recycled composites at half the cost of virgin material while maintaining full performance, catering to industries like textiles, automotive, and aerospace.

ILSUNG Composites (South Korea) – Developing induction-based recycling for carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP), ensuring high-performance fiber recovery and closed-loop sustainability in composite textiles.

These startups—and many others—are redefining efficiency, recyclability, and sustainability in composites, paving the way for a more innovative and eco-conscious future.

SAVE THE DATE!

Two pitch sessions, each featuring 10 presentations, will take place on the Agora stage (Hall 6):

• Tuesday, March 4 , at 10:00 AM for the Products & Materials category

• Tuesday, March 4, at 4:30 PM for the Processes, Manufacturing, and Equipment category

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 5 , at 5:30 PM in Agora 6.

Read more and explore all finalists:

https://www.jeccomposites.com/

JEC Composites Startup Booster: 2026 winners announced

The leading global startup competition for composites and advanced materials has crowned its 2026 champions, ahead of a landmark 10th anniversary edition next year. The winners of the JEC Composites Startup Booster 2026 were announced on Wednesday, 11 March, at JEC World, recognizing the most promising emerging companies reshaping the future of composites and advanced materials.

JEC WORLD 2026 opens: Paris becomes the World Capital of composites

JEC World 2026 opens tomorrow, March 10, at Paris Nord Villepinte, bringing together the entire composites ecosystem for three days of exhibitions, conferences, technical sessions, strategic industry gatherings, and business meetings. As the “festival of composites”, JEC World is also a destination for a broad spectrum of other professional visitors, eager to discover how these advanced materials can offer sustainable solutions to their industries.

JEC World 2026 returns with an unprecedented content program

Recognized worldwide as the leading trade exhibition for composite materials and their applications, JEC World returns on March 10-12, 2026, at Paris Nord Villepinte as the most ambitious edition to date, in line with its motto “Pushing the limits”. As the must-attend event for the composites industry, JEC World will offer an unprecedented program, blending conferences, markets insights, technical sessions, awards, and above all, a unique experience and invaluable connections.

JEC World 2026 reveals the list of finalists for the Innovation Awards

Each year, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards recognize collaborative, innovative, and ambitious projects that illustrate the potential of composite materials. Created in 1998, this benchmark program aims to identify, promote, and reward the most innovative composite solutions worldwide. In 28 years, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards have attracted more than 2,200 participating companies from around the world. A total of 269 companies and 811 associated partners have been recognized for the excellence of their innovations.

Teijin Carbon strengthens high‑end sports offering with advanced prepreg and resin technologies for next‑generation bicycle performance

High‑end bicycle manufacturers are entering a new era in which modern frames and components must be lighter, stiffer, tougher and more sustainable – all while enabling fast, repeatable and cost‑efficient production. To support this shift, Teijin Carbon is expanding its portfolio of advanced prepreg systems developed specifically for premium road, gravel and mountain bike applications.

Teijin Carbon advances sustainability leadership with EcoVadis, CDP reporting and expanding Tenax Next™ sustainable carbon fiber portfolio

As the composites industry intensifies its focus on measurable environmental, social and governance (ESG) progress, Teijin Carbon announces significant milestones that advance its position among the sector’s most sustainability-driven material suppliers. Teijin Carbon Europe achieved an EcoVadis score of 72/100 in the 2025 assessment, ranking among the top 15% of evaluated companies in its industry.

DIENES at Techtextil 2026: Flexible pilot lines for bio-based fiber development

The growing relevance of bio-based materials in technical textiles is accompanied by increasing demands for reproducibility, high-quality data, and scalable process routes. Especially when working with cellulose and its derivatives, chitosan, lignin-based approaches, or bio-based PAN as a carbon-fiber precursor, R&D teams face variable feedstock quality, tighter process windows, and the need for reliable comparability across trials. This calls for flexible, data-driven experimental setups that can be reconfigured efficiently when recipes, solvents, and raw-material batches change.

Gunold showcases embroidery product range and services at Texprocess

At Texprocess 2026, GUNOLD will present numerous hands-on examples related to embroidery in Hall 8, Booth E20. The focus is on creative embroidery designs as well as the extensive product range of threads, nonwovens, and accessories for embroidery and embellishment. “Trade visitors can once again look forward to many new and creative embroidery designs. Of course, we will also showcase the matching products required to bring these ideas to life,” announces Marketing Manager Stephan Gunold.

A Powerful Opening: Global thought leaders launch the International Cotton Conference Bremen

The International Cotton Conference Bremen will open on 25 March 2026 in the Parliament building of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with a keynote session of exceptional calibre. Distinguished international experts will set the stage for the conference by offering incisive perspectives on the most pressing challenges and the defining trends shaping the future of the global cotton trade. Their insights will span a broad spectrum — from geopolitically driven disruptions affecting global supply chains to the opportunities emerging from innovation-led agriculture capable of supporting a growing world population. Together, these opening keynotes will frame the dialogue of the conference, highlighting both the complexity of today’s market environment and the pathways toward a resilient and forward-looking cotton sector.