Following NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte launching a multinational project on defence critical raw materials at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, British advanced materials startup Uplift360 has been awarded a multi-year framework agreement with the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence (DOD). Under the arrangement, Uplift360 aims to strengthen Europe’s sovereign
David Cendon Garcia
Following NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte launching a multinational project on defence critical raw materials at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, British advanced materials startup Uplift360 has been awarded a multi-year framework agreement with the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence (DOD).
Under the arrangement, Uplift360 aims to strengthen Europe’s sovereign supply of advanced materials by producing high-performance materials from European only sources, reducing exposure to geopolitical shocks and supply chain disruption.
This follows their €7.4 million Seed funding round in February to address how aerospace, defence and industrial sectors recover and reuse high-value composite waste, as covered by EU-Startups.
Sam Staincliffe, co-founder and CEO of Uplift360, says: “Demand for advanced materials will only continue to increase across NATO Europe. The Alliance requires continent-wide supply chain resilience which our framework agreement with Luxembourg DOD advances. Over the next decade, we will scale advanced materials production, ensuring industry keeps pace with operational demand.”
Founded in Bristol in 2021, Uplift360 secures and produces critical advanced materials, including carbon fibre and aramids, for European defence and industry by sourcing, recovering and regenerating high-value materials into secure industrial supply chains.
As geopolitical instability, supply chain fragility and industrial competition intensify, access to advanced materials is becoming a defining strategic advantage.
The NATO Summit on July 7th underscored that Europe is rearming at an unprecedented pace and that Europe’s security not only depends on military capability but also on industrial resilience.
Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg Minister of Defence, says: “Robust supply chains are the bedrock of our necessary defence industrial ramp-up. Our defence readiness depends on it. With this multi-year framework agreement, Luxembourg is fostering innovation, maximising resource efficiency all while contributing to our resilience and environmental protection.”
Through this framework agreement, Uplift360 will act as strategic materials partner to the Luxembourg DOD, building intelligence on advanced material and platform requirements, increasing production capability and developing new technologies and systems for secure material supply.
Through its eight-year partnership with Uplift360, Luxembourg DOD is delivering on its Defence Industrial Strategy and the multinational Defence Critical Raw Materials high visibility project signed at the NATO Summit Defence Investment Forum, supporting the growth of its sovereign, innovative and secure defence sector.
Through the combination of Uplift360’s chemical process and advanced material expertise, the company will aim to improve the rate at which industry can operate with a strengthened supply chain – a model which could be replicated across NATO as the company scales its capabilities across Europe.
Ari Kristinn Jónsson, President of NATO Innovation Fund, says: “This framework agreement represents exactly the kind of capabilities we set out to enable when we backed Uplift360. We knew we were funding an important breakthrough technology, as Uplift360 is addressing a real vulnerability in Europe’s advanced materials supply chain.
“We are therefore happy and proud to see that translate into delivering capabilities that strengthens NATO’s industrial base. The decisive action of Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence shows what is achieved when breakthrough technologies and government demand move together.“
