
Redesigning Tomorrow’s Plastics Today
B4Plastics is a Belgium-based biotechnology start-up and a polymer architecture company looking to catalyze the introduction of novel biomaterials and growing them from niche to bulk applications.

B4Plastics is a Belgium-based biotechnology start-up and a polymer architecture company looking to catalyze the introduction of novel biomaterials and growing them from niche to bulk applications.

Digital tools are a key to shortening the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients and thus market-ready drugs and therapies.

Plafco Fibertech, founded in 2017, was created as a spin-off from an EU-research project coordinated by Jukka Valkama, a professor at the Cooperative State University of Baden Wurttemberg in Karlsruhe, Germany.

LipoCoat is a biotech company specialized in ‘bio-inspired’ coatings that improve the safety, comfort, and performance of medical devices with a focus on health and nutrition.

Tsubame BHB was established in April of 2017 based on a new catalyst technology developed by Prof. em. Hideo Hosono at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), which allows an ammonia process at lower temperature and pressure.

The CHEManager Innovation Pitch, CHEManager's start-up support initiative, entered its third year in January. But that wasn't the end of the 2020 cohort, as there were still the CHEManager Innovation Pitches of the Year to be selected. This took place at the end of January in a virtual jury session.

Affix Labs over the past 5 years has specialized in binding technologies and commercialized first products in 2019.

Hafnium Labs is tackling one of the toughest challenges in chemical R&D: Obtaining reliable physical property data — fast.

US chemistry remains in demand around the world despite ongoing trade tensions and Covid-19. In 2019, the US chemical industry was one of the world’s largest exporters, at $136 billion. The industry has a large and growing trade surplus, reaching more than $35 billion in 2019.

Without products based directly or indirectly on chemicals, life as we know it would be unsustainable. According to various sources, more than 95% of the products around us are either made by the chemical industry or involve at least one chemical process step in their manufacture.

Innovative strength has been a cornerstone of Bachem’s business success since the founding nearly 50 years ago. Günther Loidl, Chief Technology Officer for Bachem Holding, talks about a new innovation management system that will further heighten the importance of innovation in the future.

Single-step, Ambient, Dry Grafting of Organic Compounds and Biomolecules onto any Substrate.

Hybrid assemblies, joints of dissimilar materials, are everywhere - in our smartphones, cars, TVs, dishwashers, in planes and so on. However, in modern products we increasingly rely on plastics, which are intrinsically hard to bond to other types of material — and by using industrial glue for the bonding the parts cannot be recycled easily. Solving this monumental challenge inspired the foundation of the Danish start-up company RadiSurf five years ago.

Cellugy was founded two years ago by a diverse team of young academics and professionals from Spain, Indonesia, Albania, and Denmark. Working together at Aarhus University in Denmark, the idea of developing a material based on nanocellulose as an alternative to plastic barrier coatings arose and grew into a start-up and a first product. Co-founders Isabel Alvarez-Martos and Deby Fapyane talk about their motivation and vision.

Molecule.one leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to design novel chemical syntheses. As a response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Polish start-up based in Warsaw has set out on the mission to accelerate the process of creating medicines.


The change in many chemical companies’ product portfolio away from commodities to customer-specific specialties is one of the current challenges facing the process industry.

Iris.ai was founded at Singularity University at NASA Ames Research Park in 2015. Challenged to come up with an idea that would positively impact the lives of 1 billion people, the team was formed and problem areas were explored.



The fate of the agrochemical innovation, development, product launch and production are strongly linked to the parallel development of the fine chemicals and custom manufacturing industry.

The change in many chemical companies’ product portfolio away from commodities to customer-specific specialties is one of the current challenges facing the process industry.



At the end of the third quarter, the chemical industry continues to face an economic slowdown, compounded by international trade conflicts, increased political uncertainty, and fundamental changes to the value chain (e. g. the case of electro-mobility.)











































