About

iCOMAT is a University of Bristol spin-off, that has developed a patented manufacturing process for making advanced carbon fibre composites which are lighter/stronger and more cost-effective than the state-of-the-art processes for aerospace, automotive and marine sectors. This process allows for the placement of carbon fibre tapes on curved paths (also known as fibre steering). Fibre steering expands drastically the design space for composite material components and can improve all aspects of structural performance. This, in turn, allows designers to optimise components and minimise material usage with weight and cost benefits that can revolutionise the use of carbon fibre and composites.

Solution & Product

iCOMAT is offering a step-change improvement in producing lightweight and cost-efficient composite structures for the global aerospace and automotive industries based on the world’s first automated tape laying machine with the fibre steering capabilities iCOMAT is currently developing an industrial grade tape laying head to further validate the structural benefits of its fibre steering process and demonstrate the business case through pilot projects (eg production rate and cost for specific components). Once this development phase is complete, the next milestone is to finalise the engineering of the head and launch it in the market. The head can be mounted on existing robots or gantries and allows for the manufacturing of high quality composite parts using fibre-steering, allowing manufacturers to produce components with higher structural efficiency at lower production cost.

Innovation & Scalability

Current composite structures are optimised by stacking straight-fibre layers at different orientations. As structures have complex load paths, this approach often leads to overdesign. It is more efficient to design with layers of curved fibres, changing their orientation constantly to follow the load path (fibre-steering). Continuous Tow Shearing (CTS) is the world’s first manufacturing technology capable of fibre steering with no defects. CTS can steer the fibres along curved paths without defects by continuously shearing the tape during the layup process; a completely different way of manipulating the composite tape from state-of-the-art machines, which bend the tapes to steer their paths, introducing severe defects, such as wrinkling. Fibre steering expands drastically the design space for composite components and can improve their structural performance. This, in turn, allows designers to optimise components and minimise material usage with weight and cost benefits and can revolutionise the use of carbon fibre and composites.

Traction & achievements

iCOMAT has successfully completed pilot studies with leading OEMs, validating the benefits of the technology and demonstrating the business case (83% production time reduction, 57% cost reduction vs state-of-the-art production machines). iCOMAT is now scoping the setup of several pilot production lines to enable batch production of automotive parts and gradually scale-up to high volume production (40k-100k vehicles p/a). iCOMAT has developed a platform technology; the same machine can be used for production of components in aeronautics, space, marine and any sector which requires ultra-lightweight vehicles. Although the core focus is the automotive sector, iCOMAT has several projects/contracts in these sectors. iCOMAT has won multiple awards, most notably Startup of the Year by CompositesUK, Best Innovation by Advanced Engineering UK and is also representing UK at the JEC global composites startup competition.

Team & Why Us

The RTS technology was developed by Evangelos Zympeloudis and Eric Kim who have the positions of CEO and Chief Technology Advisor (CTA), respectively. iCOMAT recently expanded the management team to create a strong leadership group, most notably with the addition of Ben Olivier as Chairman. The board of directors following investment will be composed of Evangelos Zympeloudis (CEO), Ben Olivier (Chairman), Richard Hardy (COO): Evangelos further developed the RTS technology during his MRes and PhD, increasing its Technology Readiness Level and inventing novel IP. Evangelos is an Enterprise Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and has led the development of iCOMAT since its inception in 2017. iCOMAT is his second venture (co-founder & CEO) in the composites manufacturing sector, where he has developed a great understanding of the commercial landscape. Ben was recently appointed as Chairman of iCOMAT and spans a long career in the space sector. He launched the UK branch of Thales Alenia Space and remained CEO until 2018 rapidly growing the company to 165 people. He is currently a member of the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the UK National Satellite Test Facility Board. He is very well connected in the space sector and is highly experienced in scaling a high-end engineering business. Richard Hardy, is also a recently appointed board member of iCOMAT. Richard is highly experienced in developing and deploying large scale machinery, especially in the are

Funding Needs

iCOMAT has already range approximately £700k from a VC fund and angel investors, more than £1.2 million in grant funding and more than £2.3 million in contracts/revenue. iCOMAT is aiming to raising approximately £5 million in its next funding round