ECO-TECH CERAM

Their core work

ECO-TECH CERAM is a French SME that develops mobile thermal energy storage systems built from recycled ceramics, designed to capture and reuse waste heat generated by industrial furnaces. Their technology targets both continuous and discontinuous industrial heat processes — sectors where heat is generated as a byproduct but typically lost to the environment. They advanced from a feasibility concept in 2016 to a fully funded four-year development programme by 2019, suggesting a mature, commercially-focused innovation trajectory. Their value proposition combines circular economy principles (recycled materials) with industrial energy efficiency in a deployable, mobile format.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016, ECO-TECH CERAM operated at a high-concept level, framing their idea simply as "environmental energy storage" with no documented technical specifics — typical of a Phase 1 feasibility exercise. By 2019, the concept had sharpened into a defined product: mobile ceramic-based thermal storage units for capturing waste heat from industrial furnaces, with clear application distinctions between continuous and discontinuous heat processes. This Phase 1 → Phase 2 arc is not drift but deliberate focus narrowing, suggesting they used the feasibility funding to validate the market and identify their strongest commercial niche.

ECO-TECH CERAM is on a commercialisation trajectory — having completed a multi-year Phase 2 development by 2023, their next logical step is market entry and scale-up, making them a potential technology licensor or industrial partner rather than a research collaborator.

How they like to work

ECO-TECH CERAM has acted exclusively as coordinator across both H2020 projects, and their choice of the SME Instrument — a scheme designed for single-company or lean-team innovation — reflects a preference for retaining full control over their technology. No consortium partners are recorded, which is structurally expected for SME Instrument grants rather than a sign of deliberate isolation. Any future collaboration with them would likely involve them leading or licensing, not joining as a subordinate partner.

ECO-TECH CERAM has no recorded consortium partners across either project, consistent with the solo-innovator model of the SME Instrument funding scheme. Their H2020 activity reflects an internally driven innovation path with no documented cross-border research partnerships.

What sets them apart

ECO-TECH CERAM combines two distinct value layers that rarely appear together: mobile thermal storage (deployable, not site-fixed) and recycled ceramics as the storage medium — making them relevant to both energy efficiency and circular economy agendas simultaneously. Within the French SME landscape, their validated EU-funded development path (Phase 1 feasibility confirmed → Phase 2 full development funded) gives them credibility that early-stage startups in the same space cannot match. For consortium builders targeting industrial decarbonisation or heat recovery in energy-intensive sectors, they bring a specific, testable product rather than a research hypothesis.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EcoStock
  The flagship project — a €1.38M, four-year Phase 2 SME Instrument grant — represents a full-scale development programme for mobile ceramic thermal storage targeting industrial furnace waste heat, the organisation's most technically defined and commercially ambitious undertaking.
• ECO STOCK
  The Phase 1 feasibility grant that validated the core business case and directly triggered the larger Phase 2 investment, demonstrating a deliberate and successful EU funding escalation strategy.