AVANTIUM SUPPORT BV

Their core work

Avantium Support BV is the project-services arm of the Avantium group, a Dutch renewable chemistry company specializing in converting biomass and CO2 into bio-based chemicals, fuels, and plastics. They contribute catalysis expertise, life-cycle assessment (LCA), and techno-economic analysis across EU consortia focused on biorefineries, electrochemistry, and sustainable polymers. Their core industrial product focus is PEF (polyethylene furanoate) — a plant-based alternative to PET plastic — and the FDCA monomer that underpins it, along with a growing portfolio in electrochemical CO2 conversion to organic acids.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early projects (2015–2018) centered on biomass conversion — macro-algae fuels, forestry biorefineries, bio-based plastics, and enzyme-driven processing of sugars like fructose into HMF and PEF precursors. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward electrochemistry and CO2 valorization, with projects like PERFORM, SunCoChem, CATCO2NVERS, and VIVALDI all targeting electrochemical or photo-electrochemical routes to convert CO2 into organic acids and platform chemicals. This evolution tracks the broader industrial pivot from first-generation biorefining toward carbon-capture chemistry.

Avantium is moving from traditional biorefinery feedstocks toward CO2-as-feedstock chemistry, positioning itself at the intersection of carbon capture and renewable chemical production.

How they like to work

Avantium Support operates almost exclusively as a third-party contributor (18 of 19 projects), providing specialized analytical or technical services — typically LCA, techno-economic assessment, or catalysis expertise — to large consortia led by others. With 184 unique partners across 21 countries, they function as a widely networked specialist rather than a project driver. This makes them easy to integrate into new consortia: they bring deep technical capability without competing for coordination roles.

Avantium Support has collaborated with 184 unique partners across 21 countries, reflecting a broad pan-European network concentrated in Western and Northern Europe. Their consistent third-party role means they connect into many different consortia without anchoring to a single cluster of repeat partners.

What sets them apart

Avantium Support is one of very few European SMEs that combines hands-on industrial chemistry (they are part of a group building a commercial FDCA/PEF plant) with deep participation in publicly funded R&D. This dual identity — commercial producer and research contributor — means they bring market-readiness thinking into academic-heavy consortia. For consortium builders, they offer credible industrial validation of bio-based and CO2-derived chemical processes without the bureaucratic overhead of a large corporation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CO2SMOS
  Their only project as a named participant (not third party), and the only one with direct EC funding (EUR 538,500), signaling a strategic commitment to biogenic CO2 valorization.
• PEFerence
  A flagship BBI demonstration project (2017–2025) for scaling PEF production — directly tied to Avantium's core commercial ambition of replacing PET plastic.
• PERFORM
  An open-access electrochemistry pilot platform (2019–2023) that marks Avantium's clearest move into electrochemical conversion infrastructure.