Naporo

Naporo Logo

Twitter Pitch

Sustainable products made of cattail, a renewable raw material, featuring superior technical properties and energy-efficient production.

Company Information

Frank Reiche Photo

Elevator Pitch

Naporo is “The Cattail Company” – a leading innovator of value-added products made out of a re-discovered and globally abundant renewable raw material. Cattail (Lat. Typha) is a versatile wild plant with massive stocks to be found in wetlands. The plant is fast growing (with no need for fertilizers), binds 4x more CO2 than wood, does not compete with the foodchain and features a unique sponge-like insulating structure as well as water repellent oils and waxes. With local access to wetlands, cattail can be harvested at a cost advantage compared to hemp and offers strategic control of the full value chain to hedge against rising wood and forest estate prices. Naporo has filed numerous patents on thermal and acoustic insulation products and its energy efficient production process. Naporo initially targets thermal and acoustic insulation applications in construction and architectural markets, with the first products being ready for market entry via distribution partners in 2012. The company is expecting break-even in 2013 and its operations are capital efficient due to the use of contract manufacturing. The versatile materials platform also lends itself to the production of molded parts for the automotive and furniture industries (joint developments are ongoing).

Smart Green Product

Naporo’s main product entering the market in 2012 is NAPOROwall (v1.0), a smart and green carrier component of a novel thermal insulation composite system (TICS). Currently used carrier components (EPS, Rockwool) are based on petrochemicals, difficult to dispose of and require an energy intensive production process. Compared to the state of the art, Naporo consists of 85% renewable resources, offers superior acoustic insulation and fire resistance performance (patent pending), and guards against the formation of algae and mold (without the need for fungicides). NAPOROwall is dimensionally stable, water vapor permeable (leading to an improved room climate) and pre-drilled for ease of installation (patent pending). Overall these USPs position NAPOROwall as a premium TICS component, which will be offered at a competitive price. In 2010, the market for TICS came close to €1B in Germany and €270M in Austria, driven by the growing building rehabilitation industry. NAPOROwall partners with market leader CAPATECT (owned by Synthesia Group) to initially introduce NAPOROwall to the Austrian market in 2012, with the perspective of an international roll-out. Certification for the next generation product (featuring a superior lambda value of 0,37 mW/(m*K)) for market entry in 2013 is under way.

Naporo Product

Milestones

  • Funding: confidential
  • Investors: 3M
  • Employees: 2010: 2, 2011: 6, 2012E: 8
  • Revenues: confidential
  • Customers: confidential
  • Further Milestones: Österreichischer Baupreis 2011