Patient capital enables innovation for the circular economy
Machinefabriek Boessenkool in Almelo provides welding and machining services for the oil and gas industry, the medical sector, and aerospace and bridge construction. The company also builds machines and equipment in-house. Sometimes, such a machine leads to an entirely new spin-off. Despray, for example, builds machines that give the raw materials from aerosol cans a second life. With support from the innovatiefonds Overijssel, the company gained momentum and took off.
What kind of company is Despray?
Eelco Osse, managing director and owner of Boessenkool: ‘Despray develops, manufactures and sells machines for aerosol can recycling. Boessenkool builds the machines; Despray brings the product to the customer. We serve a niche market and have become the global market leader.’
Wouter van der Kley, project manager business development at Oost NL: ‘Machinefabriek Boessenkool is an exemplary company in the region. It brings together deep expertise and a strong commitment to training skilled professionals. With sustainable solutions like Despray, they are making a real impact on the circular economy.’
How many aerosol cans are we talking about?
Osse: ‘Every year, 15 billion aerosol cans are sold worldwide - think of cans for deodorant or spray paint. Around 90 percent ends up as waste, where metal rusts, liquids contaminate the soil, and harmful gases are released into the environment. We’ve developed a solution to that. Our machines turn this waste into raw materials: steel or aluminium is sent to scrap dealers for reuse, while liquids and gases are converted into energy. At Boessenkool, for example, we use that energy to heat our powder coating ovens. A single Despray-1500 machine can reduce CO₂ emissions by around 2,000 tonnes.’
Van der Kley: ‘With just one LinkedIn post announcing a demo week, Eelco managed to attract more than forty customers from ten different countries to Almelo. There is clearly a strong need for this product. Oost NL supports entrepreneurs in developing innovative technologies and processes to reuse, recycle and upcycle products and materials. Boessenkool and Despray are clear examples of this.’
Oost NL contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals
Oost NL shows patience and enables innovation.
Eelco Osse – managing director and owner of Boessenkool
How does Oost NL’s funding make a difference for Despray?
Osse: ‘Shortly after the start of Despray, a very large client from the United States showed interest in our machines. It looked like a long-term contract, and Despray even became Nasdaq news. We wanted to keep building, further develop the product, and serve this client. But the banks didn’t believe in it. It was just after COVID, my holding was growing, and I had two or three start-ups running. That naturally creates a need for capital. Oost NL helped us through that period, so we could continue with our developments.’
Van der Kley: ‘To finance innovation and growth, you need capital. Especially when it takes at least two years from first contact to an actual sale. That’s why we are glad that Despray, with funding from Innovatiefonds Overijssel - a fund of the Province of Overijssel managed by Oost NL - can further improve the machines and scale up production and commercialization.’
How is the collaboration going?
Van der Kley: ‘It’s fantastic to see how innovatively Eelco works. Waste collectors were expected to become the first customers of Despray. When that was slow to take off, Eelco started a waste processing company himself: Aerosol Recycling Twente. Waste companies now deliver their aerosol cans there, which are processed using Despray’s machines. Because the market wasn’t ready yet, Eelco now has a great demo location of his own. And he wants to keep going. The expectation is that more of these locations will appear in the Netherlands.’
Osse: ‘Customers are now coming to Almelo from all over the world. As soon as they see the machine in action, it’s sold. There are now outstanding quotes worth twenty times our current turnover. Despray is well on its way to becoming bigger than Boessenkool itself in just a few years. Without Oost NL, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve or continue this growth. If I had been forced to bring in other investors, I would have had to extract returns from the company as quickly as possible. That gets in the way of further developing products and ideas. Oost NL makes innovation possible.’
Go to the Boessenkool website.