This week we spoke to Sami Selkälä, founder and CEO at Finnish startup Innomost.
The business creates sustainable components working with forest sector aspect streams, these kinds of as birch bark.
Its most modern launch is Betuinno Betulin – a sustainable and biodegradable new ingredient that presents a potential choice to artificial white pigments, such as titanium dioxide, and also has multifunctional added benefits in cosmetics formulations.
How Innomost is switching the game…
Innomost is establishing, manufacturing, and selling ingredients to the cosmetic business that are are upcycled from the aspect streams of the Finnish forest sector, this kind of as birch bark.
Our elements are ideal for changing uncooked elements that are hazardous to the natural environment. Our 100%-bio-based mostly and biodegradable ingredients present broad selection of opportunities for sustainable formulations in all major cosmetics classes.
Barkinno Birch Bark Powder is skin friendly exfoliator and absorbent in distinct formulations, even though our most recent launch Betuinno Betulin has several positive aspects, such as protection and pores and skin regenerating qualities, and features also as a sustainable white pigment. It can be applied as a sensorial and textural ingredient – leaving a tender matte pores and skin area if used in pores and skin lotions.
Individuals of now want to use normal, renewable, and sustainable goods that are fantastic for them and for the environment. Our innovations permit our consumers to substitute environmentally destructive components with a bio-based mostly, non-harmful, and safe to use choice. We reply to the sector desire for sustainable, zero waste and whole-cycle bio-based cosmetics.
Our long term objectives for the business…
Birch provides pretty much infinite opportunities for innovative new products and solutions. Our recent vary of bio-dependent and sustainable goods from birch is only the starting of our firm’s innovation possible and growth prospects in the worldwide current market. Our concentrate on is to upcycle the total birch bark facet stream in potential to beauty or other industries.
We are on a mission to switch fossil fuel-primarily based ingredients with our upcycled bio-based mostly goods. Our purpose is to give a broad assortment of replacements for fossil gasoline-primarily based ingredients in different industries.
The raw resources (forest sector facet streams) for our goods are accessible in big volumes at a possible price tag. Our uncooked product originates from licensed Nordic forests, not from land that could be made use of for foodstuff or feed, and no deforestation is wanted. This allows us to be aspect of the change motion in direction of a much more sustainable and fossil-no cost long term.
How we commenced out…
I have a Ph.D. in natural chemistry and labored additional than a 10 years in the high-quality chemical market. I bought pissed off with the sustainability of the good chemical market because a main portion of the products and solutions ended up dependent on crude oil and experienced a vision to transform the chemical market to be extra sustainable for the up coming generations.
Innomost was established to commercialise new opportunities for renewable and sustainable solutions. Preferably buyers would have better obtain to purely natural, 100% bio-based, non-poisonous ingredients in our day-to-day life.
My interest in cosmetic ingredients began by now in 2015, when I was seeking at the INCI checklist of cosmetics in my toilet. My spouse was reselling Nordic manufacturer cosmetics as a interest. Just after realising that only a compact part of items contained sustainable elements, I commenced to investigate and examine extra about substances, formulation, and beauty business.
Just after careful and comprehensive study, I realised that there was place for enhancement and started out to produce substances suited for cosmetics. Finnish birch was ultimately the noticeable choice as a uncooked product supply, since there is a good deal of birch bark available for upcycling needs from the Finnish forest market. Birch bark elements are protected to use also, as items are pollen- and allergen- free.
Innomost was started with a desire of generating a optimistic difference for a additional sustainable potential for the up coming generations. By changing fossil gas-primarily based substances with wooden facet streams, we can do our part in slowing down weather change.
We have has submitted two patents guarding the distinctive technological know-how to make birch bark-dependent ingredients with a really lower carbon footprint. The to start with 1-of-its-variety pilot output plant begun at the beginning of the year 2023. Technological know-how has been analyzed efficiently and creation capacities are less than optimisation.
The troubles we have faced…
Creating a new inexperienced subject plant with new technological know-how is always a significant obstacle. In the course of the plant job, the global political circumstance got tough and a ton of vital equipment had appreciably prolonged shipping and delivery situations. Starting up the new plant with freshly developed special technology was laborious and required skilled personnel to solve rising problems all through the plant get started up. Eventually, we overcame the issues connected to the startup and now generation can continue on as prepared.
All-natural side stream material birch bark has its have worries, for case in point, in stability and safe dealing with of dry birch bark substance involve watchful scheduling.
How we are disrupting the market
Our elements can be applied for numerous applications and unique beauty solution categories. We can supply a large volume possibility to improve the cosmetics field. Birch bark is out there around the world and our technology can be utilised all in excess of the earth.
Customers are far more and much more knowledgeable of the sustainability variables and proceed to want to use organic and renewable products that are fantastic for them and for the atmosphere. Elements with minimal carbon dioxide footprint are the foreseeable future. In addition, upcycled and circular ingredients are long term winners.
