Source (All Images) | Fiber Elements

Fiber Elements (Leoben, Austria), a startup specializing in automated basalt fiber manufacturing for the construction industry, has raised €2.6 million in seed funding. The round was led by LEA Partners alongside the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund.

Founded in 2023 by architect-turned-entrepreneur Wolfgang Fiel, Fiber Elements has developed a technology for the fully automated production of 3D basalt fiber structures, said to offer a sustainable alternative to steel-reinforced concrete. Its technology has been brought to market in collaboration with the Technical University of Leoben (MUL), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).

The company’s approach combines finite element analysis (FEA) with advanced manufacturing processes to create mineral composites that are three times stronger than steel while weighing two-thirds less.

In 2025, the hardware and building materials market worldwide generated a revenue of $1.79 trillion and faces mounting pressure to decarbonize. Fiber Elements’ basalt-concrete solutions address this challenge head-on, offering up to 70% reduction in CO? emissions compared to traditional steel reinforcement while maintaining high performance characteristics. Unlike steel, basalt fibers do not corrode, enabling complete material recycling at the end of their life.

“The most decisive factors behind generation-defining companies are timing and team. In Fiber Elements, I’ve found a team poised to industrialize basalt in a way that could rewrite the Construction Eroom’s Law,” says Nils Seele, partner at LEA Partners. “Its solution has the potential to become the industry standard for next-generation, sustainable reinforcement — scaling rapidly across infrastructure, tunnels, bridges and prefabricated systems.”

The company has successfully completed pilot projects and currently serves five customers while holding one granted patent with several additional applications filed in 2025. The fresh capital will accelerate industrial scaling, expand the team from 10 to 20 employees by year end and advance full automation of the digital workflow with AI-supported optimization.

The company plans to introduce nano-factories for on-site production, which will reduce transport costs and environmental impact, while making sustainable, prefabricated concrete components more accessible across the construction industry.

Fiber Elements has secured recognition through the Deep Tech Seed financing award from Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) and participation in the EIT Manufacturing Venture Building Programme 2025, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.