From design experimentation to the birth of a materials company
Krill Design was founded in 2018 with a clear idea: to use design as a tool to experiment with new materials obtained from organic residues. The first projects tested applications and production performance, laying the foundations for what would become the KRILLMAT journey.
THE ORIGINS
It all began in Milan, during Expo 2015. In a context where food, sustainability, and innovation were at the center of the debate, a question arose that was destined to change the company’s path: what if food industry by-products could become a new raw material?
Orange peels, coffee grounds, and other organic residues were no longer just waste, but resources with potential yet to be explored.
In 2018, Ivan Calimani, together with Yack Di Maio and Martina Lamperti, founded Krill Design.
The first phase combined design, 3D printing, and materials research to transform organic residues into new objects.
The first concrete application was born with Autogrill, which involved the team in the valorization of orange peels from juice bars and their transformation into design products.
Subsequently, collaborations with San Pellegrino and the Municipality of Milan followed, expanding the research toward new organic matrices and new applications.
This journey also included Co.ffee Era, a project dedicated to the recovery of coffee grounds collected in Milanese bars and their transformation into everyday objects.
In 2022, Krill Design presented Ohmie, the first lamp made with a material obtained from orange peels. The project gained international visibility and demonstrated that bio-based materials can combine sustainability, aesthetics, and performance in a product destined for the market.
Through years of research and experimentation, a decisive awareness emerged: the true value is not the final product, but REKRILL®, the bio-based material developed to make it possible.
The collaborations with Autogrill and Ohmie confirmed the same intuition: true innovation is not in the finished object, but in the matter that makes it possible. From here, the idea was born to transform REKRILL® from a design material into an industrial solution.
In 2024, with the support of Crédit Agricole, Primo Capital, and Algebris, the development of the industrial production plant began. This is the transition that gave rise to KRILLMAT, the company born from Krill Design and specialized in the development and production of bio-based biopolymers intended for industrial applications.
What started as an experiment in design is today an industrial reality that develops bio-based materials for companies and manufacturers. A journey that continues to evolve, with the same objective as the origins: to transform underutilized resources into new opportunities for industry.
Our story is just the starting point. Discover how we work today and with whom we develop REKRILL® materials.
If you want to develop a bio-based material for a new application or are looking for a partner for biopolymer production, the Krill Design team is ready to support you.
