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An insight into last year’s startup voucher winner: Laminance

2022-03-19T10:49:19+01:00March 19th, 2022|Uncategorized|

­­An insight into last year’s startup voucher winner: Laminance

In this blogpost, we will let you in on the story about last year’s winner of the Start-up Voucher and how they see their future now that the coaching coming from the voucher has come to a close. We interviewed Thore Roepman, the Chief Technology Officer of Laminance, and asked him what they do and what their plans are for the coming years. Thore studied Aerospace Engineering at the TU Delft and graduated on the optimization of blended laminates to significantly improve the structural performance of unstable structures.

How did you come up with the idea for Laminance and what is it that you do?

When I did my thesis on this topic last year, I met a fellow student who did his thesis on the same topic as me and when we talked it over, we were convinced that what we were studying would be able to really change the aviation industry and have a huge impact. We wanted to try and push it beyond academic research to truly start making a change. This is where our startup idea was born.
Our technology is based on redesigning the way carbon fiber is used within a laminate. Currently, a lot of laminates use conventional stacking techniques where you stick layers together. We want to change that by putting the fibers in specific locations in different directions. This way, we can redistribute the loads around areas that are more prone to failure meaning we can increase the strength of the entire laminate. With this technique, we expect to increase buckling stiffness by at least 80%, which is significant for all the different kinds of structures within aerospace that are prone to buckling. We can also distribute loads around cutouts or do multi patch designs to enhance stiffness or strength.
We are looking at a different way to design these structures, which makes us ambitious and renewing.

Do you imagine it will improve the sustainability of the aerospace industry?

Redesigning the use of carbon fiber in laminates will have a sustainable impact in the industry. If a part becomes stronger, it also needs less material to reach required strengths. This has to do with the fact that you can do more with the same amount of material, so one can use less to achieve the same load.
Because of the exchange between load and weight, the weight of the aircraft can be decreased, which will snowball into needing less fuel for the same distance.

What made you start Laminance rather than continuing your academic research or work at an established firm in the industry?

What is happening currently with this technology is that there are a lot of companies more into the research part of other stiffness techniques. This has to do with the fact that there are still a lot of problems around the technology that don’t allow the technique to be used within the coming five years, making it less interesting for companies to implement it.
We do believe that our technology should be adopted by the industry, as there is a gap that needs and can be filled with it.

After winning the startup voucher, you were offered a membership to the Aerospace Innovation Hub. Why did you decide to join and also move your office to our facilities?

We decided to join the Aerospace Innovation Hub because there are a lot of other high tech and deep tech innovators working here. It is interesting to be able to discuss with other entrepreneurs what they have done and how they have done it. That is really one of the most valuable things the Aerospace Innovation Hub has to offer. The community is always there to help you out and it is quite easy to get in touch with each other, as at some point everyone has to get a cup of coffee.

Where do you think Laminance will be in 20 years?

Hopefully our technology will have matured enough that we have established ourselves in the aviation industry. Our aim is to go broader and get into other industries as well: all industries where carbon fiber is being used. In 20 years from now, we want our technology to have reached more sustainable use of composite laminates across multiple industries.

Closing – From the AIH Team

At the Aerospace Innovation Hub, we are proud to be supporting young aerospace entrepreneurs such as Thore and his team at Laminance. We strongly believe that innovation is nurtured and accelerated in an environment in which entrepreneurship is properly coached and guided. The Start-up Voucher program at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft offers the springboard to kick entrepreneurial journeys in aerospace. If you are interested in reading more about the program, visit TU Delft’s website: link.

If this article has sparked your interest in Laminance’s pursuit of ever lighter, stiffer and stronger composites, check out their website and get in touch with Thore and his team! Laminance.com

Bonanza.aero acquired by FLYR Labs

2021-12-22T14:52:01+01:00December 22nd, 2021|Uncategorized|

­­From idea, to start-up to being acquired…, all within 1,5 years. The story of Bonanza.aero

In this blogpost, we discover Dennis Michon’s story on how ticket pricing started in him an entrepreneurial fire that would lead him to start his own company and eventually sell it to FLYR Labs, an industry leader and pioneer of The Revenue Operating System™. Dennis is Bonanza.aero’s co-founder and former director. The company used to be one of the Aerospace Innovation Hub’s community members and Start-up Voucher winners. Bonanza offers solutions to airlines assisting on their Revenue Management (RM) practices. In laymen terms, RM is the practice of predicting airplane ticket prices and integrating these algorithms in Revenue Management systems of the clients.

How did you come up with the idea to predict airline ticket prices?

Dennis studied aerospace engineering at the Delft University of Technology. During his studies, he was always fascinated by the way ticket pricing worked. He was always trying to get the cheapest possible tickets to whichever destination he wanted to go. Using the analytical and programming skills he learnt during his studies, Dennis went on to pursue a career in Revenue Management and was employed by Qantas, Australia’s largest airline. After working in Sydney for three years, he got the opportunity to set up and run a local development office for Qantas in Amsterdam. After this period, he was eager to do more beyond Revenue Management; Dennis joined Skyteam where he met Charles Ruesch while working on a project of cross-selling ancillary products of all members of the airline alliance. This is where the idea of starting their own company really took off. The last push in the back was given by the COVID-19 pandemic when the project Dennis was working in at Skyteam was stopped. In July 2020, Dennis co-founded Bonanza.aero together with Charles and two fellow Aerospace Engineering alumni – Bram Strack van Schijndel and Bob Vlamings – working on ad hoc RM and Distribution projects for different clients within the airline industry.

Why did you choose the Aerospace Innovation Hub @ TU Delft?

Since three out of the four founders of Bonanza are alumni of the Faculty of Aerospace engineering at the Delft University of Technology, they were all familiar with the outstanding reputation of the institution, especially in the aerospace sector. They applied for the Start-up Voucher program hosted by the faculty and the Aerospace Innovation Hub and won it in the winter of 2020. It was not necessarily the prize money that attracted them to apply but rather the connection with the university. In March of 2021, the young start-up wanted to integrate more in the Aerospace Innovation Hub’s community and decided to move their office from Haarlem to Delft. The network of industry professionals combined with the strong connection to the academia made the Aerospace Innovation Hub a very attractive place to settle for Bonanza.

Being coached by an aerospace industry professional, Victor Rijkaart, proved to be very fruitful for the young start-up. Leveraging the network that was given to them and structuring the organization in such a way that it was most productive were all important lessons that were guided by the coach.

Who acquired Bonanza and what does the future hold?

In August 2021, Dennis was contacted by Alex Mans, the founder of FLYR Labs. FLYR, a Revenue Management software provider for the airline industry, was founded in 2013. The company had recently secured a Series C funding round of $150 million and was expanding its team and suite of services. With their newly opened office in Amsterdam, the acquisition of Bonanza.aero was a logical step to strengthen their European base.

Dennis described how during his studies he read an article in a Dutch newspaper about an entrepreneur working on a successful business in predicting airline ticket prices. The article stuck to him and inspired him to pursue his interests and a career in Revenue Management. The entrepreneur mentioned in the article turned out to be Alex Mans. Having been Dennis’ inspiration, it was clear that the next chapter for Bonanza was to join forces with FLYR.

Dennis found the word “acquihire” a better term to describe FLYR’s embrace of Bonanza. In Silicon Valley jargon this means acquiring a company not with the goal of gaining ownership over its products but by bringing on its talented employees to continue the journey together. Dennis and his fellow experts will continue to complete the Bonanza products under FLYR wings.

Closing

At the Aerospace Innovation Hub@TUDelft, we were filled with joy when we heard about the acquisition of Bonanza.aero by FLYR Labs. What started as an idea from one of the faculty’s students, turned into a very successful business venture. It is a great example of the entrepreneurial journey we want to facilitate within our community of aerospace innovators. We are thrilled to have contributed to this success story and to have accelerated the growth of Bonanza.

We are sad to see the team leave their office in Delft. However, this presents opportunity for new ideas to be born and to be supported by our ever-growing network. We cannot wait to see what new ideas will fill the offices!

We wish FLYR Labs the best of luck with their future endeavours, now strengthened by the bright minds of Bonanza.aero!

Memorandum of Understanding

2021-12-20T16:01:27+01:00February 16th, 2020|Uncategorized|

TU Delft, the Aerospace Innovation Hub, and Airbus Bizlab expand collaboration

Innovation starts with collaboration. TU Delft, the Aerospace Innovation Hub (AIH), and  Airbus Bizlab have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to further expand their close cooperation in the field of startups and innovation. The MoU was signed by Paul Althuis (TU Delft Valorisation Centre), Femke Verdegaal (AIH), and Christian Lindener (Airbus BizLab).           

AI, space, drones, and sustainability
The parties have agreed to share relevant information allowing students, researchers, and engineers to further investigate innovation in the fields of space, artificial intelligence, drones, material systems, and sustainability.

One Single Hub
TU Delft, the Aerospace Innovation Hub, and Airbus BizLab will work together on the ‘One Single Hub’ proposal from RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) that will offer a single entrance to aerospace engineering (pre)incubators in the western part of the Netherlands.

Successful collaboration
“Stimulating technology transfer to society is one of the key pillars of TU Delft”, Paul Althuis states. “Combining this with the Aerospace Innovation Hub that aims to connect innovators, and Airbus BizLab that supports innovative ideas until they take off provides the key ingredients for a successful collaboration.”

Pre-incubator community and program
The Aerospace Innovation Hub is the (pre-)incubator community and program situated at the Aerospace Engineering Faculty. In this (digital) community, student entrepreneurs, startups, researchers, and industry work together to innovate aerospace.