Image credits: Airborne
The Hague-based Airborne, a company specialising in the development and production of advanced composite products, announced that it has secured €16M from the European Investment Bank.
The financing will enable the Dutch company to develop automated and digital manufacturing of composites, and development of advanced products for new space and big science applications.
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Arno van Mourik, CEO of Airborne, says, “EIB backing for Airborne’s investment programme enables us to accelerate development and commercialisation of new composite automation, enabling much lower cost, providing much more flexibility, and reducing material waste. This will allow our customers to develop and manufacture advanced composite products to be more sustainable, reduce fuel consumption and provide higher performance”.
Airborne International: What you need to know
Founded by Arno Mourik in 1995, Airborne International is engaged in engineering, manufacturing, and supplying high-end composites structures for industries such as aerospace, defence, marine, high-end bicycles, and formula-one cars.
The complex materials developed are used to make aircraft, satellites, and rockets lighter, stronger and safer, claims the company.
The company offers composites structures maintenance and repair services, including inspection and damage assessment, sealing and painting, and balancing.
Airborne says that its composites have superior structural properties, freedom of form, no corrosion, less maintenance, and are lightweight. Further, the company’s advanced materials also contribute to the electrification of cars, vans, trucks, and ships.
At present, the company is involved in several projects to develop new, lightweight structures for future electric mobility, including composite battery systems, both for aerospace and automotive.
With Venturi Aviation, the Dutch company has set up a partnership to work on lightweight composite structures for the Echelon 01, a battery-electric regional airliner with a 44-seat capacity and 500 km range, to be manufactured in volume from 2029 onward.
In another consortium, led by Toray Advanced Composites, Airborne helps develop the technologies for future H2 storage tanks for long-range aeroplanes.
With VDL Nedcar, a project has been started to explore technologies needed for the electrification of the whole mobility sector, ranging from passenger cars to trucks and buses.
Kris Peeters, European Investment Bank Vice President, says, “The European Investment Bank is pleased to provide €16M venture debt innovation financing for leading digital composite manufacture Airborne. This will strengthen innovation of new composites and unlock exciting new applications, reduce energy use and create 114 highly skilled jobs. The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting innovation investment and the new partnership with Airborne demonstrates how research and development can transform daily life and industry through digitalisation and automation of production.”
Micky Adriaansens, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of The Netherlands, says “We have to strengthen our innovative economy and support high potential scaleups. Additional financial investment is a key factor for Airborne to take the next steps in their development of automated and digital production systems for advanced composite production systems. I am confident that these technologies have a relevant impact on many applications and industries such as automotive, aerospace, and renewable energy and thus will contribute to our economy.”
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