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The 2026 round of the JEC Composites Startup Booster drew more than 160 applications worldwide, according to JEC. Twenty companies were selected to pitch live at JEC World in Paris on 10 to 12 March 2026, and three took prizes on 11 March: Soarce as Grand Winner, nebumind as Runner-up and AC Biode's Plastalyst as Sustainability Winner.
The jury was five senior industry and investment figures, with representatives from Safran Corporate Ventures, Airbus, Emerald Technology Ventures, ExxonMobil and Owens Corning.
The contest is open to startups, entrepreneurs and academic spin-offs working in composites and advanced materials, across four areas: raw materials, processes, digital tools and circularity. Prize money totals EUR 10,000, split EUR 5,000 to the grand winner and EUR 2,500 each to the runner-up and the sustainability award. The grand winner also gets a booth at the following year's JEC World. No equity is taken.
This edition is closed. The 2027 round closes on 19 October 2026.
The 2026 round of the JEC Composites Startup Booster drew more than 160 applications worldwide, according to JEC. Twenty companies pitched live at JEC World in Paris on 10 to 12 March 2026, and the jury named three winners on 11 March. The jury was five senior industry and investment figures, with representatives from Safran Corporate Ventures, Airbus, Emerald Technology Ventures, ExxonMobil and Owens Corning.
Seaweed- and biomass-derived nanofiber coatings applied to fiber-reinforced composites. JEC's announcement described the pitch as making composites stronger with nanofibers, 8x stronger than steel. Funding on JEC's record: $3.81M.
Turns production data into digital product twins. Its Anomaly Dashboard is used by Airbus, ArianeGroup, MT Aerospace, MTU Aero Engines, Fraunhofer IGCV and Isar Aerospace. Funding on JEC's record: $165K.
Entered with Plastalyst, a catalyst that recycles hard-to-recycle waste at low temperatures. The technology has moved beyond plastics into carbon fiber reinforced polymer. Funding on JEC's record: $723K.
| Rank | Company | Based | Sector | Stage | Raised |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mars MaterialsCarbon-negative acrylonitrile from captured CO2, water, electricity and low-carbon ammonia. | United States | Raw materials | Finalist | $6.7M |
| 02 | SoarceGrand Winner. Seaweed- and biomass-derived nanofiber coatings that strengthen fiber-reinforced composites. | United States | Manufacturing processes | Winner | $3.81M |
| 03 | FyousPolyMorphic Moulding forms reusable moulds in minutes from digitally controlled pin arrays. | United Kingdom | Manufacturing processes | Finalist | £3.3M |
| 04 | fibionicFibionic fiber placement marries bionic load-path design with high-speed fiber placement. | Austria | Manufacturing processes | Finalist | €3M |
| 05 | Trimer TechnologiesLow-viscosity thermoset resins that cure in under 60 seconds and are inherently non-flammable. | United States | Raw materials | Finalist | $1.35M |
| 06 | ZetamotionSpectron inspection platform plus ZELIA, an AI assistant that generates synthetic training data. | United Kingdom | Digital tools | Finalist | $1.3M |
| 07 | CGREENBio-based carbon fiber from cellulose, after ten years of research. | France | Raw materials | Finalist | €1.22M |
| 08 | AC BiodeSustainability Winner. Plastalyst catalyst recycles hard-to-recycle waste, including CFRP, at low temperatures. | Luxembourg | Circularity | Winner | $723K |
| 09 | BIOFIBIXKU Leuven spin-out selling HYPERMAT flax reinforcements, with flax processed within 150 km. | Belgium | Semi-finished materials | Finalist | $348K |
| 10 | nebumindRunner-up. Turns production data into digital product twins for aerospace manufacturers. | Germany | Digital tools | Winner | $165K |
| 11 | Mach ElectricCarbon fiber filament made from waste-gas CO2 using proprietary additive manufacturing and extrusion. | United States | Raw materials | Finalist | $125K |
| 12 | Acus CompositesESA-incubated compact composite microfactory cells with reusable tooling. | Italy | Manufacturing processes | Finalist | $121K |
| 13 | SINTEG SystemsUltrasonic in-situ stiffness assessment and defect detection, with no disassembly. Picked for NATO DIANA. | Netherlands | Equipment | Finalist | $116K |
| 14 | NoviumGenerative-AI platform for digital materials development. | Turkey | Digital tools | Finalist | $30K |
| 15 | ATA MuteUltra-thin tunable composite sheets and a compact broadband muffler that absorb low-frequency noise. | Netherlands | Semi-finished materials | Finalist | amount not disclosed |
| 16 | Akhet SolutionsReal-time composites process simulation. Unverified as of September 2026. | France | Manufacturing processes | Finalist | NoneNo funding on JEC's record |
| 17 | BlendcelConverts blended textile waste into biodegradable materials. | France | Circularity | Finalist | amount not disclosed |
| 18 | P2MGENE.SYS embeds RFID and NFC tags in hulls and decks to give composite structures a digital passport. | Italy | Digital tools | Finalist | amount not disclosed |
| 19 | ReForm CompositesPolyDowel, a continuous-fiber thermoplastic replacement for steel plate dowels in concrete. | United States | Manufacturing processes | Finalist | amount not disclosed |
| 20 | RheochronosInstruments that measure gel, polymerization and coagulation times for resin cure control. | France | Equipment | Finalist | amount not disclosed |
| No company matches that filter. | |||||
Eleven countries are represented across the 20 finalists. The United States has five, France four, the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom two each, and Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Turkey one each. Nine of the 20 were founded in 2023 or later, and five were incorporated in 2025.
Funding figures come from JEC’s own tracking, which counts grants, public funding and government or EU programmes alongside equity rounds. Fourteen of the 20 carry a figure, $22.3 million between them, and Mars Materials at $6.7 million is the largest.
Applications for the 2027 edition close on 19 October 2026. Details are on the JEC Startup Booster 2027 page.
Disclosure: JEC is a Sesamers client. Sesamers sells startup curation services to event organizers, including JEC.
