Company: Bcomp
CEO: Christian Fischer
Website: https://www.bcomp.com/
About Bcomp
Bcomp began in a garage in Switzerland with a simple mission: to make better, lighter skis. Armed with PhDs in materials science from EPFL, our founders discovered that flax fibres – lightweight yet incredibly stiff – could reinforce the malleable balsa cores in skis. This breakthrough led to the creation of bCores™, our first bio-based material, quickly adopted by freeride ski brands like K2, Faction and Movement.
It quickly became apparent that the potential of flax went far beyond ski manufacturing. Through close collaboration with industry leaders, we developed our flagship ampliTex™ technical fabrics and powerRibs™ reinforcement grids to replace traditional materials like plastic or carbon fibre in composite panels. These solutions are now used across motorsports, automotives, mass transportation, and the recreational (sports) sectors.
The biggest challenge we faced in scaling our materials was convincing industries to move away from materials they had relied on for decades. Change takes time, and transitioning to new materials often requires rethinking supply chains and manufacturing processes – something many large companies are hesitant to do. In industries with longer production cycles, like automotive manufacturing, integration took time. However, in fast-paced sectors like motorsports, our materials were quickly adopted.
In 2018, we ended a 37-year dominance of carbon fibre in motorsport racing bodywork by introducing powerRibs™ reinforced ampliTex™ composites. The ductile fracture behaviour of our bio-based fabric improved safety and reduced debris on track, while matching the stiffness and weight of carbon fibre. Since then, we’ve collaborated with McLaren in F1, BMW M4 in GT4, and Suzuki’s CN CHALLENGE motorbike, proving our place on the track and demonstrating a viable path for sustainable materials in mass-market vehicle production. Today, our ampliTex™ fabrics are used in vehicle interiors by CUPRA, Polestar and KIA. In 2022, we achieved the stringent International Automotive Task Force (IATF) 16949 certification, which proved that our materials could meet mechanical performance standards of vehicle exteriors. This unlocked a whole new application for our materials, which is set to further redefine what is possible for sustainable material performance. Exciting partnerships are on the horizon for large-scale applications, set to launch in 2025 and 2026.
We’ve learnt that sustainability isn’t enough to drive adoption – our materials need to be objectively better than conventional materials. We worked closely with brands like Porsche, Volvo and Cupra to prove that our natural fibre composites could meet the toughest standards, rather than just being sustainable alternatives. Today, we’ve demonstrated that flax fibre composites can be lighter, stronger, safer, and scalable.
What began as a passion project has grown into a global cleantech company leading the shift towards sustainable, high-performance materials. Some of the biggest brands now use our materials to cut their carbon footprint, without compromising performance.
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