The Institute for Chemical Technology (ITQ CSIC-UPV) launch a start-up to boost the development of sustainable ingredients for detergents and cosmetics
The Research Institute for Chemical Technology (ITQ), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), is boosting the creation of the technology-based company Olesym Chemicals. This deep-tech start-up develops technology to manufacture ingredients for detergents and cosmetics using sustainable raw materials available in Europe. The technology is based on a process developed over more than ten years of research at ITQ and the Max Planck Institute (Germany), which enables renewable synthesis gas to be transformed into ingredients ready for incorporation into existing formulations for the manufacture of these products. It is currently in the transition phase to pilot scale.
Shampoos, conditioners, detergents, fabric softeners and fragrances contain molecules in their formulations that are unknown to consumers. Many of these ingredients are produced from palm oil or petrochemical derivatives imported from non-European countries. This dependence exposes European industry to price volatility, potential supply disruptions, new traceability requirements, and environmental impacts linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and high CO₂ emissions.
In contrast, the technology being developed by Olesym proposes to produce these molecules from European raw materials, thereby eliminating dependence on tropical raw materials such as palm oil or fossil-based raw materials such as petroleum. Furthermore, it would reduce the carbon footprint associated with the production of these ingredients by between 75 and 90 per cent, depending on the raw material – whether derived from agricultural biomass waste or forest management residues, or from CO₂ captured in industries such as cement and steel. These projections will need to be confirmed as the technology progresses towards industrial validation.
Cutting-edge technology
Olesym’s technology is the result of more than a decade of research at the Research Institute for Chemical Technology (ITQ), developed by the team led by Gonzalo Prieto, a CSIC researcher who heads the ITQ’s ‘Catalysis Engineering for Sustainability’ group. “The start-up received support from two prestigious programmes of excellence from the European Research Council (ERC), which took the technology through to laboratory validation and prepared it for scaling up to a pilot plant,” says Prieto, the company’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).
Another distinctive feature of Olesym’s technology is that it does not rely on biotechnological routes or require the use of genetically modified microorganisms during production. Its thermocatalytic basis, which uses heat and a catalyst to drive the desired chemical reactions, is designed to achieve yields closer to those of conventional production routes, thereby promoting the development of renewable and sustainable alternatives that have the potential to be economically competitive.
Having validated the technology in the laboratory, Olesym is embarking on a new phase towards its validation at pilot plant scale. This will enable the company to verify the reproducibility and stability of the process on a larger scale and to produce samples for qualification. “The transition to pilot scale is a crucial stage, not only for validating the robustness of the technology, but also for producing the volumes required for the technical and commercial validation of our products with key clients, using real-world formulations,” says Ilaria Ceteroni, co-inventor of the technology, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the company.
A recognised start-up
The spin-off was launched with the support of the venture builder Zubi Labs. In addition to Gonzalo Prieto and Ilaria Ceteroni, Dutch national Joost Korver has joined Olesym as CEO and co-founder to lead its industrial and commercial development, bringing with him twenty years’ experience in energy, sustainability and the growth of deep-tech companies. Renowned entrepreneur Iker Marcaide, co-founder and executive chairman of Zubi Group, has also joined the company’s board of directors. Olesym has received the EBTON-Converge Award 2025 for the best entrepreneurial project to emerge from the CSIC at a national level; the SPIN-UPV 2025 award as part of the UPV’s innovation competition; and a Santander X Award 2026, which recognises early-stage entrepreneurial projects in Spain.
