CEO’s Review

Spinnova’s story begins in 2009, when founders Janne Poranen and Juha Salmela worked with microcellulose research at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. They began investigating whether wood fibre could be spun into textile fibre in a similar manner as a spider spins protein into a spiderweb. Janne and Juha determined that it could be possible, so they refined and patented this process over the following years into a validated technology platform.

Comments by CEO and Chair of the Board, Janne Poranen

From Annual Review (14 March 2025)

“During 2024, we took concrete actions towards our goals. We announced the updated strategy in March 2024, focusing on selling the technology to upstream raw material partners and textile manufacturers. We also renewed our organisation to support our new strategy best. In addition, in March, we signed a letter of intent with Suzano regarding a potential new production facility for wood-based SPINNOVA® fibre. Spinnova’s technology development progressed well in terms of main sub-processes, and the plan was to move to the pre-engineering phase in the fall of 2024. However, in February 2025, Suzano informed us that they would not invest in the next steps of collaboration with Spinnova. The decision was based on Suzano’s newly defined priorities and capital allocation strategy.”

“Even though the years-long collaboration will not go further in this shape with Suzano, it is essential to highlight that Spinnova still has the full capability to demonstrate our technology concept to our customers, although we are no longer working closely with Suzano. As previously announced, we are developing our own MFC concept, which is currently in the commission phase. This means we can demonstrate our technology from pulp bale to fibre bale. The end of the Suzano cooperation will affect our short-term choices, and we will evaluate our strategy considering recent decisions.

In 2024, we signed a Partnership agreement with Valmet regarding the delivery of process equipment to our technology customers. Valmet is our long-standing partner and is highly committed to lowering the capital and operational costs of fibre production and delivering the technology as a global partner.

Brand collaborations continued, and we created a market for SPINNOVA® fibres. Multiple commercial products were launched during the year, and we received positive feedback on the functionality and cotton-likeness of the fibre. Hence, we continue to see a clear need for the fibres in the market!

All in all, the developments in 2024, as well as in previous years, were driven by our highly capable and motivated team at Spinnova. We have made consistent progress toward our targets under the leadership of Tuomas and the rest of the management. The collaboration between the board and management has been seamless. Our Board of Directors was strengthened in 2024 with new expertise, and we are fully prepared to take the Company towards a bright future.

We are developing and selling a new technology to reduce the global textile supply chain’s footprint. Achieving this requires hard work and patience. Therefore, I thank many of our long-term partners and investors for their trust and long-term commitment. I still fully believe that together with our partners, we have the opportunity to achieve our goals. We are doing something completely new and revolutionary, with global significance.”

Janne Poranen
CEO, Chair of the Board, and Co-founder