Innovation is a key part of the cement and concrete industry’s journey to net zero and is a key part of our 2050 Roadmap.

The GCCA runs two innovation programmes under its Innovandi programme

Innovandi Global Cement and Concrete Research Network

The network connects 450+ scientists in the field of cement and concrete, runs about 75 PhDs and invests around 1.2 million Euros per year in research solely focussed on reducing the CO₂ footprint of concrete. Academic partners bring their knowledge and in-kind projects to the network, aligned with the Innovandi Research Roadmap created by Industrial Partners.

The projects showcase the latest research to Industry, facilitating a two-way dialogue. The network can then influence the projects, bringing global and industrial perspectives. To date, 62 partner projects have been accepted to the network and 19 have been finalised.

Innovandi Open Challenge

Launched in 2021, the Innovandi Open Challenge is a unique industry accelerator which brings together tech start-ups and GCCA member companies to drive innovation and help solve the climate challenge. It partners GCCA members with exciting start-ups in consortia, where they provide resources and facilities, to accelerate technology, that will be essential in our decarbonisation journey.

Under the Open Challenge, start-ups gain unique access to industry plants, labs, key networks and the expertise and infrastructure of the GCCA’s 40+ members from around the world. They also receive guidance from the GCCA and its members to help them with the development of new technology and business cases.

The first Open Challenge ended in October 2022 and saw partnerships between six exciting start-ups and our member companies in the carbon capture and concrete recycling areas. The successful results of each of the consortia were shown at a ‘Demo Day’ in Düsseldorf, which included promising carbon reductions in all six start-ups.

The second Open Challenge launched in March 2023, and is for start-ups working on the development of new materials and ingredients for low carbon concrete – a major step towards the ultimate goal of net zero concrete. The sourcing for our second Innovandi Open Challenge closed at the end of May 2023 and GCCA member companies are now in discussion with 18 selected startups for onboarding in our accelerator programme (15 startups selected for pitch day and 3 made it through a last chance bracket).

We are delighted that over 70 Start-ups from around the world applied for our Innovandi Open Challenge. Successful startups will partner with GCCA member companies. The results of these collaborations will be unveiled at a Demo Day later in April 2024.