RWTH Aachen University: RWTH start-up impresses in the finals in the USA
In the pre-selection, the FibreCoat team from Aachen prevailed over 440 competitors from all over the world. This makes it one of only two international teams that have made it to the finals alongside universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the University of California. With the scientists from FibreCoat, RWTH was the only European university represented. The company also received the TiE Houston Angels Award of $ 100,000 and the Mercury Fund’s “Best Hard Tech Elevator Pitch” award of $ 500 at RBPC.
As in the previous year, the four-day competition was held virtually again this year. The participating teams received virtual coaching and mentoring in advance and presented their developments in a live pitch in the final. With their patented technology, the Aachen-based company convinced the jury and won the investment prize endowed with 50,000 US dollars for third place.
Inexpensive high-performance composite fibers
FibreCoat GmbH produces inexpensive high-performance composite fibers using highly productive spinning technology. These are glass fibers with a polymer jacket or basalt fibers with an aluminum jacket. FibreCoat GmbH can use a coating technology developed at RWTH Aachen University to coat the individual filaments directly in the manufacturing process. It achieves a production speed of over 1,500 meters per minute as well as a completely homogeneous coating. With “AluCoat”, FibreCoat launched its first product in January. These fibers are ten times cheaper than comparable conductive fibers, which are currently in high demand for applications in e-mobility or electromagnetic shielding.
The start-up was founded in February 2020. In the same year the team won the RWTH Spin-off Award, took second place at the Aachen Technology and Entrepreneurship Conference (ATEC X) and at the AC2 start-up competition, received the “Science Start-up” award from the Falling Walls Foundation, and came first Place in the NUK business plan competition and made it into the list of the top 50 start-ups in Germany.