Georg Breitenberger CEO & Co-Founder | Freia Ruegenberg CSO & Co-Founder | Kilian Rießbeck CDO & Co Founder

At Parastruct we are decarbonizing the construction industry by making it circular. Our recycling technology enables Gigatons of CO2 reductions in a $ 600 billion market. 

1.   Which is the problem that you are trying to mediate?

Building materials production is one of the largest global CO2 emitters. After their lifetime, building materials are recycled very little and are usually sent to landfills. The continuous simultaneous extraction of resources and landfilling have a negative impact on biodiversity. These are growing problems because, in 2050, we will need twice as many building materials.

ParaStruct reduces carbon emissions at source and has a measurable impact towards SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 13 Action to combat climate change and its impacts.

2.   How did the idea to create the company come to mind? How did your team come to be?

The company has its background in developing 3D printing technology for the construction industry by Georg Breitenberger. For 3D printing to work, you need suitable materials, which led to us acquiring a great deal of expertise in material technology with many different mineral binders.  There was a demand from customers for 3D-printed recyclable formwork for the precast concrete industry, which led to the development of the process for recycling a binder in 2021. Freia and Kilian verified this process in a research project and became co-founders. The experienced construction product developer Gregor also joined the team.

Today, Parastruct is a team of 7 full-time equivalents!

3.   Why did you choose to participate in the Paris Techstars accelerator program? What are you looking forward to the most?

We chose to participate in the Paris Techstar program to gain easier access to funding, mentorship, and Networking. Participating in a prestigious accelerator program like Techstars Paris, which is located in a major European tech hub, enhances visibilityand creates social confidence.

What Parastruct might be looking forward to the most includes:

• Learning and Scaling: Receiving tailored guidance on how to scale its technology and business model rapidly and sustainably.

• Collaborations: Finding partners or collaborators to implement their innovations, particularly in the EU market.

• Investor Access: Meeting investors who align with Parastruct’s mission in the circular economy and sustainable construction space.

4.   What are you the most proud of in your initial journey with your company?

Third parties tell us that we can be most proud that we made it through the first three years to our first turnover without an investor and that we have proven our independence.

5.   How do you plan to measure the positive impact of your company in the next 5 years?

Together with EIT Climate KIC, we are working on a suitable method to determine our impact in the coming months. This will look like this:

1. Reduction in CO2 Emissions: Amount of CO2 emissions avoided through our cement recycling and other sustainable material technology. We will calculate the difference in emissions between using our recycled materials and traditional cement production, using industry-standard lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodologies.

2. Material Recovery Rate: The percentage of cement and other construction materials successfully recovered and recycled from demolition and old concrete projects. Track the tonnage of material recovered, and benchmark it against typical landfill disposal rates.

3. Reduction in Raw Material use: Amount of virgin raw materials avoided using recycled or alternative materials. Compare baseline raw material usage in construction projects before and after implementing our solutions.

Good Luck Parastruct!

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