TNO launches 25th spin-off company in the presence of the EZK State Secretary
TNO’s 25th spin-off company was announced during a digital working visit by Mona Keijzer, State Secretary for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK). This company, Relement, creates chemical building blocks based on bio-residuals instead of oil, thereby helping to make the chemical industry more sustainable.
Relement originated in the Tech Transfer programme that was set up more than three years ago to bring TNO’s knowledge to the market and thus realise societal impact. It was fitting that the State Secretary who is responsible for innovation and entrepreneurship (among other things) be involved in this important milestone.
Relement uses TNO knowledge to create new chemical ingredients based on bio-residuals instead of oil. These ingredients are of a higher quality than the fossil variants. For example, paint with these ingredients is more resistant to sunlight and insulating foam becomes stronger.
State Secretary Mona Keijzer (EZK): “I congratulate Roger Blokland, Managing Director and Founder of Relement, on this new company based on Dutch knowledge. And, of course, the same goes to TNO for their 25th spin-off. It is enormously important that a smart idea reaches the market quickly via entrepreneurs. This creates jobs and is also good for society – in the case of Relement, by making residual products (which everyone turns their noses up at) usable again. Thanks to institutions such as TNO, innovation can benefit our entire country.”
Relement
Relement is a spin-off of TNO and was established for the development, production and marketing of bio-aromatics developed by TNO within the Biorizon Shared Research Center. Aromatics are essential raw materials for coatings, adhesives, insulating foams and other high-quality applications. 40% of all chemical building blocks consist of aromatics, which can currently only be produced from fossil raw materials. Relement wants to replace the current fossil aromatics with special bio-aromatics which are both much more sustainable and – above all – higher quality.
Roger Blokland, CEO and co-founder of Relement: “It’s fantastic news that Relement has become the ‘silver anniversary’ 25th spin-off of TNO. This helps us to find investors who share our sustainable vision. Paints, adhesives and lubricants are all products that we use every day. Our chemical ingredients are able to make these products not only more sustainable but also much better in terms of quality. I’m convinced that this unique technology will make an important contribution to increased sustainability in the chemical industry.”
Tech Transfer
TNO’s mission is to develop innovative knowledge and to apply that knowledge in order to create societal impact. This knowledge leads mainly to application by existing partners of TNO, companies and public authorities. When external capital is required to convert the knowledge into products, TNO opts for an additional method of achieving this: the creation of new companies. TNO therefore began the Tech Transfer programme over three years ago with the aim of getting the knowledge to the market.
Within the programme, this is done by developing business cases, doing market research, connecting entrepreneurs and involving investors. This creates new companies which can use TNO knowledge for employment and economic growth. In addition, these companies contribute to societal challenges such as the energy transition, security and health.
“The Tech Transfer programme makes an excellent contribution to the actual application of TNO’s innovations on the market. This applies to Relement but also to the 24 spin-offs which were previously established – results to be proud of,” says Cis Marring, CFO and a member of the TNO Executive Board.