Airborne International, manufacturer of composites (high performance fiber-reinforced plastics), has received a capital injection of € 12 million specifically to foster its growth in the aerospace sector. The Hague-based company, founded in 1995, wants to invest in new technologies that will allow them to produce composites more efficiently.
The growth capital comes from a consortium consisting of four investors: InnovationQuarter, Brabant Development Agency (BOM), Pangaea Ventures and HPE Growth Capital. In 2010, HPE already made an investmentin Airborne. For Pangaea Ventures, which focuses on modern materials, this is their first investment in the Netherlands.
Founder and CEO Arno van Mourik is pleased with the investors’ confidence: “Part of the capital injection will be used to improve our automation. We also plan to put some of the capital into building and expanding our maintenance activities at Woensdrecht Air Base. The demand for lightweight and low maintenance solutions is increasing rapidly, and the major challenge now is affordability. Composite production needs to be brought up to a truly industrial level, and there are no standard solutions currently available. With the support from investors, such as InnovationQuarter and BOM, specialized companies, such as Airborne, can obtain a leading position worldwide in this development.”
Cooperation between two regions
Two of the investors, Innovation Quarters and BOM, are regional funds. They typically only invest in companies that are headquartered in their region. Since all regional funds have different regions, they rarely invest together. For Airborne International an exception was made, since the company provides employment in both regions.
Miriam Dragstra, Director of BOM Capital, stated in the press release from Airborne: “Our joint investment with InnovationQuarter will provide part of the capital. This investment underscores our goal to further strengthen the maintenance, logistics and smart manufacturing sectors, and we expect to achieve employment growth of more than 60 positions.”