Innovation Fund has picked iCOMAT for its light components for aircraft and spacecraft
The NATO Innovation Fund is investing in the Greek startup iCOMAT, which makes lighter and more efficient components for spacecraft, aircraft and even Formula 1 cars.
NATO’s fund has 1 billion euros to finance companies active in cutting-edge technologies (deep tech). The startup, the brainchild of Evangelos Zimbeloudis, has raised $22.5 million in capital with US venture capital 8VC and the NATO Innovation Fund as key investors.
In this round of financing, Solvay Ventures also participated as well as existing investors, namely the Greek investment fund Velocity Partners.
The iCOMAT team develops robotic machines that help produce components (airplane wings, car hoods, satellite panels) from composite materials, such as carbon fibers, which are light but consist of strong fibers that make them more durable than metals such as steel.
The Greek startup’s technology can, for example, make the components used by one auto maker to produce its vehicles lighter, but also more efficient, and it is aimed at high-end applications for the defense, automotive, aeronautical and space sectors.
As Zimbeloudis explained to Kathimerini, similar technologies are also being developed by large aeronautical companies, however, they have not found a way to “twist the direction of the fibers, as a result of which they use more carbon fiber and make heavier components. We do this technique automatically, without crushing the fibers and without destroying the properties of the material.” This way, the final product is 10%-65% lighter.
The University of Bristol spin-off was founded in 2019 and has developed a partnership with over 25 clients in the aerospace, automotive and defense sectors. “iCOMAT’s technology is of strategic importance, especially for the aerospace industry, with the prospect of revolutionizing the way vehicles are designed and built, from unmanned and fighter aircraft to satellites, space launch vehicles, civil aviation aircraft and even high-performance cars,” Giorgos Papastergiou, a representative of Velocity Partners on the board, told Kathimerini.
