Relement secures 5.4 M€ seed investment

January 21, 2026

Relement secures seed investment to scale Bio MPA for the coatings market

Dutch green chemical ingredients company Relement has secured an investment of 5.4 million Euro from investors KIKK Capital, Yield Lab Europe, Brabant Development Agency (BOM), TNO Ventures, and Relement Management. The funding consists of both new equity and conversion of existing loan agreements and will be used to scale up production of Relement’ first product called Bio MPA to make it available for the market. 


Relement is a chemical pioneer in the field of specialty aromatics, for which there are no sustainable alternatives today. By using proprietary and patented technology, Relement can convert agricultural waste streams into bio-aromatics. These unique products not just improve the environmental profile and lower CO2 emissions, they enable higher performance of products such as coatings, adhesives and composite materials. 


“This investment accelerates our mission to bring high‑performance, sustainable ingredients to market,” said Roger Blokland, CEO and co‑founder of Relement. “With help from our manufacturing partners, we will scale Bio MPA production and support coatings customers to deliver more value. The investors’ participation reflects growing confidence in Relement’s strategy as the company moves from pilots to commercial supply.” 


“We invest in promising, scalable technology companies, led by experienced commercial teams, that have the potential to grow into a leader in its field. We are looking forward to add our considerable expertise to help Relement grow” says Johan Sebregts, managing partner at KIKK Capital


“In the future, farmers will not only produce food but also sustainable raw materials, Relement bridges the gap between farmers and such materials” according to Daan Wilms van Kersbergen, Yield Lab Europe


“Relement contributes directly to an unmet need in the circular economy and therefore potentially reduces the ecological foodprint of in an increasing number of companies. BOM has been supporting Relement since the early hour, and we are proud to contribute to the first winner of the LEVEL UP AWARDS”, Martijn van der Vleuten, investment manager, Brabant Development Agency (BOM)


“Relement has translated TNO innovation into a scalable route to Bio MPA. This investment round confirms confidence in the team and technology as they advance sustainable coatings and materials, impact we’re proud to support.” stated Hans Boumans, Director TNO Ventures


About Relement

Relement develops bio‑based chemical performance ingredients that enable manufacturers to improve product performance while reducing environmental impact—starting with Bio MPA for coatings. The company builds on a multi‑year R&D foundation and works with industry partners to bring sustainable aromatics to market. 


Bio MPA (which is short for biobased 3-methylphthalic anhydride) is a novel, bio‑based ingredient that makes coating formulations stronger, harder, and faster‑drying. These benefits stem from Bio MPA’s unique structure, which increases crosslink density and reduces VOC through lower viscosity formulations. To this end, Relement is actively working with a number of leading coating companies. For more information, visit https://www.relement.eu/ 


About KIKK

KIKK Capital is a Deep Tech investor that partners with start-up companies to build strong, successful, and sustainable businesses. KIKK Capital supports ambitious, determined, and motivated management teams by providing not only the funding required for business growth but also by actively supporting and assisting in maximizing and leveraging growth opportunities. For more information, visit https://www.kikkcapital.com/


About Yield Lab Europe

Yield Lab Europe is an impact VC fund investing into early stage European AgriFoodTech companies, with the aim to make global food and agriculture production systems more sustainable and more efficient whilst improving profitability. Yield Lab Europe has offices in Ireland, the Netherlands and France and has made over 30 investments to date. For more information, visit https://theyieldlab.eu/ 


About BOM

Entrepreneurship is the driver of innovation – from sustainable food sources to a healthy future, climate-neutral energy, and developing promising key technologies. The Brabant Development Agency (BOM) ensures that startups playing a role in these fields receive the right support and funding to get off to a flying start and grow into scaleups, and that companies that aspire to go global can actually do so. BOM is an executive body of the Province of Brabant and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. For more information, https://www.bom.nl/


About TNO Ventures

TNO Ventures builds tech companies that matter. We turn TNO research into spin‑offs and support external startups through licenses and participations, opening access to TNO’s technology, expertise, and facilities. By bridging the “valley of death,” we accelerate the path from lab to market in partnership with investors and industry. For more information, visit https://ventures.tno.nl/ 


Media contact:

Roger Blokland • info@relement.eu • +316 1127 6055

Relement Unveils Bio MPA Innovation at European Coatings Show

June 26, 2025
At the European Coatings Show in Nuremberg, Relement’s launching product Bio MPA (3 methylphthalic anhydride) took centre stage at the Worlée Chemie and HOBUM Oleochemicals booths. Attendees were captivated by innovative products with this novel bio-based performance ingredient integrated into new resin solutions designed to revolutionize coatings and composites. At the Worlée booth one could see the new Concept Paint from Royal Van Wijhe Verf called BIOmotion70 as well as new innovative waterborne industrial alkydcoating for metal protection formulated by Baril Coatings. Hobum displayed a biobased composite door panel. CEO Roger Blokland and CCO Monique Wekking represented Relement at the 2025 event, which drew >25,000 industry professionals. Witnessing Bio MPA showcased in both alkyd resins and composite materials firsthand was truly inspiring. Further discussions and meetings at ECS centred on bio MPA integration into alkyd coating resins and broader resin systems, emphasizing its potential to enhance performance while reducing reliance on petrochemical precursors and as a result reducing CO2-footprint significantly. Food for Thought: Building Future Alliances At ECS, we engaged in forward-thinking exchanges across the value chain—from bio-based raw material sourcing to resin formulation and further commercial scale-up. There is a mutual interest in driving sustainability through innovation, deeper partnerships, and novel product development. Notably, Worlée Chemie and Relement recently formalized an offtake agreement securing volumes of bio MPA from Relement’s first industrial production launch in 2026.

Field validation BIOmotion70 Concept Paint with Royal Van Wijhe Verf and Worlée Chemie

June 26, 2025
Dutch paint company Royal Van Wijhe Verf has been collaborating with Worlée Chemie and Relement over the last year to develop Concept Paint BIOmotion70. With our novel biobased ingredient bio MPA (3-methylphthalic anhydride) in a new Worlée alkyd resin, Dutch company Royal Van Wijhe Verf was enabled to develop BIOmotion70; a high-gloss exterior paint with 70% biobased content. It matches traditional alkyds in finish and durability while reducing fossil solvents by 85% to just 4%. Validation BIOmotion70 with professional painters BIOmotion70 has undergone successful field trial validation with professional painters from Dutch property maintenance companies SW Vastgoedverbetering and Koestr. Our CEO Roger Blokland and our CCO Monique Wekking were present at Royal Van Wijhe Verf to witness this validation field test. Though BIOmotion70 is still in its “Concept Paint” phase, the painters responded enthusiastically—remarking, “You’re on the right track”—echoing above-average approval in terms of processing and result. It is important to Royal Van Wijhe Verf to include professional painters in the process early on and to listen to what they need to remain successful and distinctive. Valuable feedback was received so that Royal Van Wijhe Verf can further optimize the paint. Overall, the painters were very satisfied with the application and initial results. They did not expect such a sustainable synthetic paint to achieve such high performance.” A Collaborative Effort We believe genuine sustainability requires a value chain partnership approach: from raw material suppliers to applicators. Innovation is only successful when customers are open to it and accept new products. They way we collaborate with Worlée and Royal Van Wijhe Verf and their customers exemplifies this model. It’s not enough for a product to be sustainable—it must also perform better and be accepted by its users. Including professional painters by Royal Van Wijhe Verf in the testing process, has not only built confidence, but provided insights that will be used to fine-tune performance. Relement, Worlée and Royal Van Wijhe Verf will continue joint efforts to launch the new Concept Paint BIOmotion70 on the market. For more information please contact our CCO Monique Wekking: monique.wekking@relement.eu

Meet Amyke Veurink: our new Senior Technical Sales Support Manager

June 25, 2025
Relement is very happy that Amyke Veurink joined our team since June 1st. She brings over 25 years of technical coating application experience to our team. Get to know her through this interview. How has your career developed so far? I have worked for large and smaller companies, binder manufacturers and paint producers, like Akzo Nobel, DSM (now Covestro), Holland Colours and Van Wijhe Verf. I started as a researcher into coating properties and how to influence them by the adjustments of coating formulations. Also, I determined the properties of coating binders to steer the development in the right direction. Later I increased my interest in more fundamental studies and was project leader and team leader. At Relement I can work exactly in my field of knowledge, but on a new subject, a new green ingredient for binders. I like this a lot, and I am very lucky to have found such a professional and nice team of colleagues. What is your role at Relement? I am a Senior Technical Sales Support Manager. Relement is on a mission to change the world of aromatic chemicals and is a frontrunner in renewable chemistry by creating aromatics from non-food biobased raw materials. These biobased aromatics are the missing renewable element for many products such as coatings, adhesives, and other materials. My focus is to investigate and understand the technical aspects of resin production with our launching product bio MPA (3-methylphthalic anhydride) and to increase the knowledge about the technical advantages of using bio MPA in end applications of our customers. What do you want to achieve at Relement? We see significant improvements with bio MPA compared to the fossil equivalent PA in various applications and I want to know the underlying reason. For this I will partner in projects with Applied Universities and Research Institutes. With this information, I will develop bio MPA user guides for our customers to help them understand how to process and use our product bio MPA. At the moment my focus is on Relement's launching market alkyd coatings.

5 years of Relement: Interview with CEO Roger Blokland

June 25, 2025
The Relement team celebrated its first lustrum. Our CEO Roger Blokland took a moment to reflect on the past five years. 5 years of Relement: what was the 'aha' moment that led to its birth? Sustainable materials offer huge potential, but customers buy value, not just sustainability. The moment I realized our biobased products could improve performance in hard-to-recycle materials, the opportunity became clear: combining sustainability and performance. How has your vision for Relement evolved? My vision remains the same: building the sustainable specialty chemicals company of the future, based on furfural. What changed is the focus—from being a green alternative to emphasizing the unique performance of our products. But our customers’ challenge is still the same: make very hard-to-recycle materials like coatings more sustainable. What strategic pivot made the biggest impact? Shifting to contract manufacturing. Letting go of our own facility significantly lowered capital needs, aligned better with venture funding, and made entry easier—especially once we proved our product works in batch-wise processing - which is typical for contract manufacturing. What was the most unexpected lesson in year one? CEOs spend 95% of their time fundraising. The other 100% is for running the company. 😊 And the most unexpected milestone? Discovering our first product added crosslinking functionality—a game changer for material strength and durability. This insight helped secure our first off-take agreement with Worlée. How has your company culture evolved? We focus on transparency and continuous improvement. Feedback is built into our daily rhythm because we believe learning never stops—and that’s how you build excellence. What makes a great co-founder team? Persistence is key. Co-founders must keep pushing through challenges. We also believe in diverse teams. We’ve analyzed our strengths and gaps to keep growing, supported by a community of peers who generously share insights. We try to do the same. And as last, what is your dream for Relement? To build a successful, sustainable specialty chemicals company that sets new standards—and is a fun, challenging place to work! 

Relement collaborates with Royal Van Wijhe Verf and Worlée Chemie

March 3, 2025
Relement collaborated with paint & coating company Royal Van Wijhe Verf and resin manufacturer Worlée Chemie to unveil a groundbreaking new biobased alkyd paint called BIOmotion70. With BIOmotion70, an 85% reduction in fossil solvent is achieved. Only 4% of that remains. This paint, with a reduction of the fossil content of approximately 50%, is a major step towards a fossil-free (paint) world.” This coating achieves performance close to Van Wijhe’s best performing flagship product, LBH SDT Ultra Gloss Paint, while being significantly more environmentally friendly. The BIOmotion70 concept paint, containing Relement's bio MPA, is made of 70% renewable materials according to the carbon 14 method, making it unique in the market. It offers excellent durability and quality, whilst reducing 60% solvent content. Relement’s launching performance ingredient bio MPA is the key enabler for achieving this result. The concept paint is a durable high gloss coating for exterior timber and is intended for professional painters, real estate maintenance management as well as quality-conscious consumers. Key Features: Bio MPA - Enabling ingredient BIOmotion70 incorporates bio MPA, replacing traditional petrochemical components. Bio MPA enables a low viscous alkyd resin, which results in the durable BIOmotion70 paint with only 4% petrochemical solvent (down from 30%). Durability BIOmotion70 has been extensively tested. Excellent drying at low temperatures, processability, flow and other properties are in line with current solvent-borne systems. The Concept Paint provides the ‘bulging gloss’ that is so desired by painters. We tested outdoor durability with rapid ageing. This is better than the known market references and it approaches the quality of our LBH SDT Ultra High Gloss Paint. Sustainability BIOmotion70, once commercially on the market can achieve an unique 3-star "OK Biobased" TÜV rating (C14 measured), with potential for further improvement. For more information please contact our CCO Monique Wekking: monique.wekking@relement.eu

Relement contracts Weylchem-Allessa for production bio MPA

By roger.blokland • December 19, 2024
Relement team is happy to announce we have contracted Weylchem-Allessa GmbH in Germany, to initiate industrial-scale production of our launching product bio MPA (3-methylphthalic anhydride). The first ton-scale production campaign is planned for late 2025, targeting commercial market introduction of bio MPA. For the production of bio MPA standard chemical unit operations are needed. Allessa (part of Weylchem Group) has extensive expertise and capabilities in chemical contract manufacturing that will ensure efficient large-scale production of bio MPA while upholding Relement’ high standards for quality and sustainability. Relement’ outsourcing strategy reduces time-to-market significantly compared to building our own flagship plant. We are impressed with Allessa’s capabilities and professionalism, which are a good fit with Relement’ needs. Furthermore, the close distance between Allessa and our largest customers will further facilitate logistics and communication. We are excited about the next step for our company. We are building a world scale, sustainable valuable chemical ingredients business. Our unique bio aromatic ingredients improve sustainability and product performance for e.g. coatings, adhesives and composite materials. For more information please contact our CTO Stefano Iannacone: stefano.iannacone@relement.eu

Pre-order bio MPA

December 17, 2024
Relement has contracted Weylchem-Allessa GmbH as Contract Manufacturing Organisation. Ton-scale industrial production of our launching product bio MPA (3-methylphthalic anhydride) will start in 2026. It is possible to pre-order sample material now to start a labscreening or a pilot. Also, offtake agreements can be negotiated. Please indicate to us the volume bio MPA you would like to purchase to boost performance ánd sustainability of your products. Please fill in the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Relement and Worlée sign offtake agreement

December 17, 2024
Relement is pleased to announce the signing of an offtake agreement with Worlée Chemie GmbH, a leading German chemical company. The agreement secures a fixed volume of bio MPA, a novel high performance biobased ingredient for use in coating resins . Bio MPA, our launching product, is scheduled for ton-scale production by late 2025 via contract manufacturing. This innovative material is designed to replace fossil-based components in alkyd resins, offering improved sustainability alongside performance benefits. Over the past four years, Relement and Worlée have worked closely to integrate bio MPA into coating resins, achieving results such as enhanced hardness, lower viscosity for reduced solvent use, faster drying times, and improved gloss. Worlée plans to introduce a range of alkyd resins featuring bio MPA to selected European coating formulators. The agreement also sets the stage for further development of resins aimed at a wider range of applications, underlining both companies’ commitment to sustainable innovation in the coatings industry. Joachim Freude, Managing director at Worlée Chemie, commented: “We are delighted to introduce new biobased alkyd resins on the market that will allow our customers to create more sustainable coatings without compromising on quality. Bio MPA is a key step toward replacing fossil-based ingredients in our formulations.” We are very excited to expand our partnership with Worlée, it is an important milestone. It brings us closer to the commercialization of bio MPA and demonstrates the value of strong partnerships in building a sustainable, biobased value chain. We are proud to work with Worlée to meet the growing demand for greener and more efficient products. For more information please contact our CCO Monique wekking: monique.wekking@relement.eu 

Bio MPA in polyols for PUR and PIR foams

December 9, 2024
Relement has successfully integrated bio MPA (biobased 3-methylphthalic anhydride) in a (polyester, polyether) polyol for use in polyurethane (PUR) and polyisocyanurate (PIR) rigid foams. Such foams are often used as insulation material in buildings.  Since there is more attention for sustainable building materials and energy conservation measures, increasing the biobased content of such materials is of interest. Petrochemical phthalic anhydride is often used as an ingredient in aromatic, rigid PUR and PIR foam. Relement’s launching product bio MPA can be used as a biobased substitute and performance enhancer. Due to steric hindrance of the additional methyl group in bio MPA compared to phthalic anhydride, it is expected that bio MPA based insulation foams will be more rigid, improving the compressive and tensile properties and increasing the glass transition temperature. In collaboration with Avans Applied University in the Netherlands, Relement successfully synthesized basic polyester polyols with bio MPA.

Relement won a Tech Tour Bio-Based Industries 2024 Award

November 21, 2024
Relement is honored and grateful to be among the winners of the Tech Tour Bio-Based Industries 2024 Award. The Tech Tour event highlighted >30 selected companies at the forefront of bio-based innovation, chosen through a rigorous selection process led by a panel of active investors. Our CEO Roger Blokland was on site to present our activities. He pitched about transforming sustainable biomass residues into high-performance bio-aromatics for coatings, adhesives, and materials, offering a renewable alternative to fossil-based ingredients while also enhancing product performance. The expert jury acknowledged Relement as one of the companies that is setting new benchmarks in sustainability, circular materials, and green technology. The Tech Tour Bio-based Industries 2024 event was co-organized by Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) and co-hosted by Circular Valley and City of Wuppertal, as well as supported by partners like Bayer, DWNRW, ZAZ Ventures, and Shaping Bio. Of course, we would also like to congratulate the other winners: Arda Biomaterials, Blue Ocean Closures, Mevaldi, Origin by Ocean, Quorium and SenseUP Biotechnology.