Innovation company Metsä Spring
In 2018, Metsä Group established an independent innovation company, Metsä Spring Ltd. Metsä Spring's task is two-fold. On the one hand, it is supporting Metsä Group in the search for new business concepts, for Metsä Group, but also for the wider ecosystem. On the other hand, Metsä Spring is also supporting the research, development & innovation activities of the five current businesses of Metsä Group. Importantly, all endeavours that Metsä Spring participates in must have the potential to strengthen the Metsä Group business ecosystem in the long run.
In 2022, Metsä Spring’s portfolio comprises six projects: two demo projects, four minority investment in startup companies, as well as a significant collaboration with Fortum (ExpandFibre, see below). The on-going demo projects focuses on converting pulps into (i) Kuura™ textile fibre and (ii) 3-dimensional fibre packaging solutions. The former is a collaboration with Japanese ITOCHU Corporation, whereas the latter is a collaboration with Valmet. Kindly check out the up-to-date portfolio here: https://metsaspring.com/projects/.