The global paint & coatings market (usually divided into cleaning & pretreatment, paint, and equipment vendors) is valued at $184bn (60% accrues to the industrial sector) & projected to reach $212bn by 2026 (for comparison - or to give away my true nature - that’s about as large as the global video games market). So, in comes France-based Ecoat, which develops, manufactures & sells bio-based/ solvent-free “binders” to paint & coating manufacturers. Its binders can make formulations a) chemical resistant e.g. anti-corrosion/ water repellent, b) fast drying/ drier free/ quickly recoatable – based on its proprietary “Leaf Tech” technology, c) low tack, d) low yellowing, e) low VOC & odorless – based on its proprietary...

Ireland-based PlasmaBound, was spun-out in 2017 from University College Dublin by Alan Barry (CEO), Dr. James Nicholas Barry (CTO) & Xavier Montibert (CSO). Described as an “automation machinery manufacturing company”, PlasmaBound is on a mission to “lightweight automotive, aerospace & space industries". . PlasmaBound does so by "pretreating" composite materials so they can be more easily integrated into structural assembly lines. Specifically, PlasmaBound has developed a patent-pending technology, to enable high-speed bonding of composite materials in a manner where it will effectively take on a role similar to welding in metals. To do so, PlasmaBound have modified a mature technology “Atmospheric Cold Plasma” (compressed air) & retasked it from an “activation” to an “ablation”, causing...