Perseus Materials wins its category at the “JEC Composites Start-up Booster”
The competitors came from across the globe.
Twenty start-ups competed in last week’s “JEC Composites Start-up Booster” competition – 10 each in one of two categories – and one of the winners calls Knoxville its new home.
Perseus Materials Inc., a member 0f the 2023 cohort of the “Innovation Crossroads” program operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, captured first place in the category of “Process, Manufacturing & Equipment.” Two other winners were also named:
- Tree Composites, a Netherlands-based company that recently introduced the TC-joint, a novel technology based on composite as an alternative to the complex welded joints in multi-membered tubular structures. It captured first place in the “Products and Materials” category.
- Strong By Form is a Spanish-based company that creates lightweight structural solutions that fuse the sustainability of wood with the performance and productivity of advanced composites. It won recognition for its sustainability.
Co-founded by Daniel Lee, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, and John Feist, Chief Technology Officer, Perseus Materials has reimagined the chemistry that powers the manufacturing of composites to make it the cheapest, most convenient building material of the future.
The judges who deliberated before selecting the winners included representatives from some of the biggest players in the composites industry. They were:
- Jelle Bloemhof, Head of Composite Manufacturing Technologies, Airbus;
- Karl-Heinz Fueller, Manager Future Exterior & Materials, Mercedes-Benz;
- Chris Hsieh, Assistant Vice President, Swancor Holding;
- Smita Kacker, Opportunity Development Manager – New Market Development,ExxonMobil;
- Claude-Sebastien Lerbourg, Investment Director, Supernova Invest; and
- Chris Skinner, Vice President of Strategic Marketing and R&D, Owens Corning.
In just eight years, the “JEC Composites Start-up Booster” has established itself as a global reference for entrepreneurship in the composites industry in 2025. More than 100 entrepreneurs, start-ups, and university spin-offs submitted their applications, with 20 selected as finalists.
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