VLAIO recently renewed its support for Leuven-based Zeopore Technologies. The company develops and commercializes innovative technologies to improve zeolite catalysts, which in turn make chemical processes more efficient and sustainable.
In addition to making (bio)fuels frost resistant in a more efficient way, Zeopore is now focusing its innovations on larger applications. For example, Zeopore, with more porous zeolites, is increasingly penetrating FCC and hydrocracking as well as biomass conversion and chemical processing of plastic waste.
Thanks in part to the contribution of VLAIO, Zeopore is evolving into a knowledge center and scale-up company active in Flanders, Europe's largest chemical cluster. Zeopore is well financed, has an attractive patent portfolio, negotiates with global players, and is growing steadily in terms of turnover and workforce.
Click here to read a more general article which VLAIO has written and published (in Dutch language).
Innovative power in chemical sustainability
The relationship between VLAIO and Zeopore started in 2018, just after Zeopore was founded as a spin-off company from KU Leuven. Zeopore received VLAIO support for the specific development of mesoporization techniques focused on the most commonly used zeolite in global refining. This results in more performing porous zeolite catalysts which make these chemical processes more affordable, flexible and sustainable.
In VLAIO's second round of support a year later, Zeopore investigated the frost resistance of (bio)fuels and lubricants under industrially relevant conditions. With the insights obtained, Zeopore managed to tailor its zeolite optimizations specifically to this specific application. It also provided tangible evidence that Zeopore's technology actually functions in real-world industrial conditions.
This success now forms the basis for the latest VLAIO subsidy with which Zeopore further develops its sustainable process technology within the commercially interesting but complex hydrocracking applications. Zeopore also wants to further broaden this technology and roll it out to global players in refining. To this end, Zeopore is aligning its process technology to industrial standards to enable the anticipated commercialization.
The developments made possible by VLAIO have accelerated the growth of Zeopore. Based on the foreseen research and development activities, as well as the related commercial traction, Zeopore expects to further expand its workforce in the coming years.
Making existing and new markets more sustainable
From the start, VLAIO believed in Zeopore's innovative power and the enormous market potential of fundamentally more sustainable zeolite catalysts. The innovative technology of Zeopore is technically capable of making refineries and chemical installations operate more selectively, sustainably and economically.
In addition to existing markets, Zeopore is also targeting highly emerging applications such as biochemical conversion and the chemical recycling of plastic waste. With its more sustainable zeolites, Zeopore contributes significantly to the transition to a circular economy. Zeopore expects to further break through worldwide and can thus avoid the emission of significant amounts of CO2.
Flemish player with global market potential
Zeopore's goal is to become the worldwide reference in the development and commercialization of higher-performance zeolite catalysts. At present, by market application, Zeopore is collaborating with renowned clients worldwide to bring its revolutionary technology to market in the future through technology licensing or product deliveries.
The sector in which Zeopore is active functions as one of the priority innovation spearheads that the Flemish Government supports. Partly thanks to the support of VLAIO, Zeopore wants to grow into a unique scale-up within a sustainable refining and chemical sector.
Click here to read a more general article which VLAIO has written and published (in Dutch language).