Reselo - the company that turns birch bark into rubber

With funding from the European Innovation Council behind it, Reselo's path is set for the next two years. Participation in the Forest Business Accelerator has also given wind in the sails.
-"Our expectations of the program have both been met and exceeded," says Josefin Larsson, at Reselo.

In 2022, the startup Reselo participated in BizMaker's Forest Business Accelerator program. They are developing a process to convert birch bark, a waste product from the world's forest industry, into a biomaterial called Reselo Rubber. The rubber they produce can replace fossil-based rubber found in shoes, protective equipment and toys.

Reselo has participated in similar programs before, but what distinguishes the Forest Business Accelerator from others is the close contact with industry. Partner companies in BizMaker's accelerator are SCA, RISE and IBM.

-The close cooperation with the partner companies is unique and has been extremely positive for us. The contact that we have had with SCA both during the program and going forward is very valuable," says Josefin Larsson, Reselo.

Since Reselo produces its product from residual streams from the forestry and pulp industry, the industry becomes an important partner for them.

- "With SCA as a sounding board, we have understood how we need to work with the value chain around it to get the most out of our process, but also how to adapt our product so that it fits into the existing value chains. We are not looking to redo the existing ecosystem, but we want to take advantage of what exists today and make it something better," says Josefin Larsson.

Since August when Reselo began its acceleration journey with the Forest Business Accelerator, the company has expanded. Then there were three of them and by the end of the program they had hired two more people. One full-time, one 30 percent and a new addition in an advisory role.

-We also plan to recruit a materials chemist, says Josefin Larsson.

In October 2022, Reselo received 2.5 million euros from the European Innovation Council, EIC, to support its continued development. The money will be used for a two-year project that began in February 2023.

- "Our main focus will be on process optimization and then pilot trials. We will also prepare to build a demo plant or semi-commercial plant as we call it," says Josefin Larsson.

The goal is to be able to deliver commercial volumes in 2025. To be able to commercialize their technology, the technology needs to reach a certain level of maturity.

-Thanks to this project, we will be able to reach a commercializable level. So it's big for us," says Josefin Larsson.

The company will also work a lot on validation projects with customers in the near future. This is to demonstrate applications where the customer can use Reselo Rubber.

In the long term, Reselo aims to be a materials company that develops new materials to replace the fossil-based alternatives. They want to have a long-term positive impact on climate emissions.

-What we see in the very long term is that there may be several types of side streams, or biomasses to explore, says Josefin Larsson.