Julien Born to lead global scale-up as CEO of HeiQ AeoniQ Holding

The awarded HeiQ AeoniQ™ technology is poised for commercial production at the inaugural manufacturing facility in Portugal by the close of 2025. The just concluded €5M acquisition of land and buildings, within a 2-year project total investment of €80M, marks a pivotal milestone for the 15,000m2 facility in Maia, Porto. Situated strategically in Portugal’s thriving textile hub and a mere 20 minutes from a major commercial port, this facility is poised to catalyze the scale-up phase of the business, going from pilot manufacture to mass production when it will be able to compete at full-scale on cost and performance with fossil fuel-based fibers.

HeiQ intends to consolidate the Group’s current and future activities in Portugal at the newly acquired site. This includes Shared Service Center functions as well as the Innovation Hub for the HeiQ Textile & Flooring business unit.

Advancing the scale-up of HeiQ AeoniQ™ to drive positive impact

HeiQ AeoniQ Holding, established as an independent subsidiary to attract new investors, value-chain partners, and brands, embarks on an ambitious multi-year scale-up strategy. This strategy involves integrating diverse sources of bio-derived feedstock and hyper-scaling cellulosic filament fiber production capacity over the next decade, targeting industries such as apparel, footwear, automotive, home textiles, and aeronautics.

The recent addition of Julien Born to lead the charge follows the nomination of Robert van de Kerkhof to the HeiQ Board, a seasoned executive with extensive textile experience holding positions as CCO, CSO, Board member of Lenzing Plc, and Chairman of CIRFS, the European Man-Made Fibres Association. Robert will also serve as the Chairman of the HeiQ AeoniQ Holding Board.

Expressing his enthusiasm, Julien Born stated, "I am excited to join HeiQ, a company with a meaningful purpose, a passion for innovation, and tremendous growth potential. Together with a talented team working with a great entrepreneurial spirit, we have an opportunity to build with our partners a unique ecosystem around the HeiQ AeoniQ™ technology that can truly change the game on sustainability in several industries."

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ Group, commented on the appointment, saying, "We eagerly welcome Julien to steer HeiQ AeoniQ Holding. His wealth of experience in high-tech fibers and demonstrated leadership will be pivotal to hyper-scaling HeiQ AeoniQ™ and achieving our transformative vision for the textile industry."