Relement wins first Brabant40 Award

Runners-up for this year’s Brabant40 were AgroExact and VivArt-X. Scy Dye won the audience award, receiving the most votes from nearly 3,000 participants. Relement takes home the first Brabant40 Award.

Relement has been recognised as this year’s most successful Brabant-based startup contributing to solving a major societal challenge. Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) presented the award to CEO Roger Blokland and the team in front of an audience of 700 people at the Evoluon in Eindhoven, as part of the annual LEVEL UP event.

Relement is a Dutch pioneer in the emerging field of renewable chemistry. The company produces valuable, speciality bio-based aromatics from renewable, non-food biomass residues. An expert jury, consisting of Janneke Niessen, Ellen de Brabander and a group of Brabant-based business developers, selected the winner from 40 nominees based on input from the public. The new award aims to highlight the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit within the Brabant region.

Runners-up for this year’s Brabant40 were AgroExact and VivArt-X. Scy Dye received the audience award with the highest number of votes from nearly 3,000 participants.

In her speech, jury chair Janneke Niessen praised “the many companies solving real problems, represented by the 40 nominees. Relement is a great example, with a concept that could potentially impact the lives of a billion people. This is what impact entrepreneurship is all about.”

Startups

Minister Adriaansens emphasised the importance of startups in a modern economy:
“Our policy is based on four pillars: being innovative, being sustainable, supporting a strong Netherlands within a resilient Europe, and ensuring that everyone benefits from a thriving economy. Startups are fundamental to all of these pillars. And here in Brabant, this is particularly evident in deep tech startups.”

Adriaansens added that events such as LEVEL UP and the Brabant40 Awards are essential for strengthening the startup ecosystem:
“They enable the community to showcase and share the great work that is being done.”

The Brabant40 Award is a new startup prize, supported by the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), Braventure, AgriFood Capital, Brainport Development, Midpoint Brabant, REWIN, Bossche Investerings Maatschappij (BIM) and The Gate.

This article was published on the Innovation Origins website.