Leoben, Austria-based Fiber Elements, a startup specialising in automated basalt fiber manufacturing for the construction industry, has raised €2.6M in seed funding.
The round was led by LEA Partners alongside the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund.
With over €2B in cumulative capital commitments, LEA Partners is an entrepreneurial-minded multi-stage Venture and private equity firm investing in technology companies that are driving transformative change in their industries.
“The most decisive factors behind generation-defining companies are timing and team. In Fiber Elements, I’ve found an exceptional team poised to industrialise basalt in a way that could rewrite the Construction Eroom’s Law. As the sector grapples with regulatory complexity, rising material costs and sluggish adoption of innovation, Fiber Elements is uniquely positioned to reverse decades of stagnating productivity. Its solution has the potential to become the industry standard for next-generation, sustainable reinforcement—scaling rapidly across infrastructure, tunnels, bridges, and prefabricated systems,” comments Nils Seele, Partner at LEA Partners.
Fund utilisation
The Austrian company will utilise the fresh capital to accelerate industrial scaling, expand its team from 10 to 20 employees by year-end, and advance the full automation of its digital workflow with AI-supported optimisation.
The company plans to introduce nano-factories for on-site production, which will significantly reduce transportation costs and environmental impact. This initiative will make sustainable, prefabricated concrete components more accessible to the construction industry.
Fiber Elements has secured recognition through the Deep Tech Seed financing award from Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) and participation in the EIT Manufacturing Venture Building Programme 2025, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
Fiber Elements: Specialises in the application of basalt
Founded in 2023 by architect-turned-entrepreneur Wolfgang Fiel, Fiber Elements specialises in the application of basalt in the construction industry.
Basalt is a naturally occurring lava rock that is melted down and processed into ultra-thin fibres with a diameter of approximately 0.02 mm.
The automated production of three-dimensional basalt reinforcements uses finite element analysis to define the needed properties of the components.
This offers a strong and cost-effective alternative to steel-reinforced concrete. Since it’s a mineral-based material, it can be fully recycled at the end of its life.
The technology has been brought to market in collaboration with the Technical University of Leoben (MUL), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).
The company’s approach combines finite element analysis with advanced manufacturing processes to create mineral composites that are three times stronger than steel, while weighing two-thirds less.
The company has successfully completed pilot projects and currently serves five customers while holding one granted patent with several additional applications filed in 2025.
Wolfgang Fiel, Founder and CEO of Fiber Elements, says, “Having spent my career focused on sustainable materials – both in research and real-life applications, I recognised the extraordinary potential of combining basalt’s natural properties with a holistic design to manufacturing approach. This funding enables us to transition from successful pilots to industrial scale, positioning us to become a global champion in basalt fibre applications. The technology represents a genuine paradigm shift – we’re not just improving existing materials, we’re creating an entirely new category of high-performance, sustainable building components that the industry desperately needs.”
