Albotherm and Lumiforte to collaborate to explore the potential of a seasonal, heat-activated shade coating
Albotherm Ltd, a UK based advanced materials startup, and leading Dutch horticultural coatings manufacturer Lumiforte announce their collaboration. This partnership aims to explore the integration of Lumiforte’s removable greenhouse coatings system with Albotherm’s patent pending, heat-activated shading technology.
Albotherm and Lumiforte are working together to pioneer a heat activated, seasonal shade coating, which would be the first of its kind on the market. This collaboration aims to develop a product that seamlessly integrates the ease of application and customisability of Lumiforte’s removable coatings with Albotherm’s unique temperature sensitive technology.
After the initial development being led by the R&D departments of both companies the first trials are currently being planned. Objectives of this trial will not only be about the coating performance, but also to gather more proof points of this new technology.
Albotherm’s innovative smart material changes opacity with increased temperature by transitioning from transparent to white to shade crops in hot weather, while allowing the maximum amount of light through during cooler weather. Founded in 2020, Albotherm has secured approximately £2 million in investment and grant funding to develop and deploy their technology in the commercial horticulture market. Their cutting-edge technology holds the potential to revolutionise the commercial horticulture market both in Europe and around the globe. Previous crop trials utilising this technology have shown up to 34% increase in crop yield and an 18% increase in light levels compared to standard chalk shading. The 2022 trials took place at Rothamsted research growing basil crops.
Lumiforte was created in 2021 following the merger between Sudlac SAS from France and Mardenkro BV from the Netherlands, which were founded 65 and 40 years ago, respectively. Lumiforte is the global market leader in developing, manufacturing and selling smart coatings and cleaning solutions for greenhouse horticulture, sports line marking, and other functional coatings for agriculture and industry. Their two product lines, ReduSystems and Sudlac, are at the forefront of innovation in the horticultural sector and are distributed to more than 70 countries worldwide. Through these product lines their aim is to have a significant impact on the development of plants, people and the ecosystem by working in harmony with nature.
Molly Allington, CEO of Albotherm: “Lumiforte’s support of our technology is a huge milestone for Albotherm and we are thrilled to be working together. With commercialisation of new technologies being historically tricky in horticulture, having the backing of a market leading organisation like Lumiforte is a testament to the potential of our innovation.”
Barry Zuidgeest, CCO of Lumiforte: “This advanced technology of Albotherm enables more growers globally to use a smart dynamic coating during high temperature periods while having high transmission of light in the morning and when the weather gets suddenly colder. I am very enthusiastic about the technological knowledge and partnership with Albotherm’s team and looking forward to the first results.”