Fribourg, Switzerland-based Bcomp, a clean tech company, announced that it has secured CHF 36M (approximately €37M) in a Series C funding round.
The round was led by EGS Beteiligungen AG (EGSB), with participation from new investors, including Verve Ventures, Zürcher Kantonalbank, and RKKVC.
A group of participants who had already invested in Bcomp’s Series A and Series B rounds further increased their investments. This group includes names like Generali and Airbus Ventures, as well as strategic investment funds linked to well-known OEMs such as BMW i Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
The Swiss company will use the funds to grow its production capacity and enter new markets in Asia and North America.
The company’s bio-composite products have been recognised by Volvo and Polestar, with industrial-scale applications underway.
Bcomp aims to expand into other sectors such as rail, buses, aviation, aerospace, and consumer goods.
“Not only are we facing more stringent regulations for carbon outputs, but consumers and manufacturers everywhere understand that we need to decarbonise to preserve our global environment,” says Bcomp CEO and Co-Founder Christian Fischer.
“The quality and status of investors in our Series C demonstrate their belief that our bio-based composites offer a viable path towards carbon neutrality without compromising on the rigorous performance requirements of our customers for their demanding applications,” adds Fischer.
Bcomp: Pioneering sustainable light-weighting solutions
Started as a garage project in 2011, Bcomp develops and sells sustainable light-weighting solutions.
The company’s proprietary natural fiber-based reinforcement technologies — ampliTex and power-Ribs, reduce environmental impact in a wide range of high-performance applications.
It includes motorsports, automotive interiors, mass transit, recreational equipment, consumer goods, and the aerospace industry.
According to Bcomp, its flax-based reinforcement fabrics can be used by OEMs as substitutes for standard materials like carbon, glass, or plastic in its target markets.
In certain applications, it offers superior lightness and stiffness potential in comparison to synthetic composites.
Additionally, these materials provide advantages such as high-vibration damping and improved safety since the materials do not shatter upon impact.
OEMs associated with investors like BMW i Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund are already using powerRibs and ampliTex.
For example, ampliTex fabric is being applied at volume for visible interior components in the new electric Volvo EX30, while BMW is using both products in the design of performance interior and exterior parts for its BMW M4 GT4.
With Bcomp’s solution, automotive interiors can reduce plastic content by up to 70 per cent and weight by up to 50 per cent.
These natural, high-performance materials cut CO2 emissions by up to 60 per cent and can be recycled.
The thermoplastic product range is IATF 16949 and ISO 9001 certified and can be easily integrated into volume production processes.
Bcomp’s team offers global engineering support and guidance from concept through to industrial manufacturing out of its Fribourg headquarters in Switzerland and an office in Shanghai, China.
The investor
EGS Beteiligungen AG (EGSB) is the investment arm of the Ernst Göhner Foundation in Zug/Switzerland.
The foundation invests a significant portion of its assets in Swiss companies, contributing actively to their sustained positive development and securing the preservation of jobs and know-how in Switzerland.
“We are very impressed by the maturity and leadership of such a young Swiss company in the field of sustainable, lightweight performance materials,” says David Kurmann, Investment Director at EGSB.
“They are offering unprecedented solutions to decarbonisation at a time when the global manufacturing sector is trying to meet its carbon-neutral objectives,” adds Kurmann.
01
destream: Building the financial backbone of the creator economy