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Executive Summary: Composites Market Outlook 2026

  • Industry Growth Overview: The composites market includes 42 000 companies worldwide and 800+ startups. It saw a -3.14% growth rate last year which reflects ongoing challenges. Besides, the global composites market will reach USD 181.7 billion by 2028. It continues to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% from 2023 to 2028.
  • Manpower & Employment Growth: With 3 million employees globally, the sector added 112 000 new employees last year. It shows steady job creation and workforce expansion.
  • Patents & Grants: The field registered 472 000 patents and 4700 grants, with a yearly patent growth rate of 1.71%. China and the USA lead in patent contributions.
  • Global Footprint: Top country hubs are the USA, UK, China, India, and Germany. Leading city hubs include London, Sydney, Melbourne, New York City, and Mumbai.
  • Investment Landscape: The composites field received an average funding of USD 29.8 million per round. There were over 7900 funding rounds involving 3000 companies.
  • Top Investors: Key investors like the European Investment Bank, Kingspan Group, BlackRock, and more contributed to a combined investment value exceeding USD 4 billion.
  • Startup Ecosystem: Innovative startups include Nova Composites (fire-retardant composite structures), Lineat (recycled carbon fiber tapes), RF Nanocomposites (EMI shielding and stealth materials), Polyloop (PVC composite waste recycling), and Addyx (additive manufacturing for composites).

 

 

Methodology: How we created this Composites Report

This report is based on proprietary data from our AI-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, which tracks 7 million global companies, 20K+ technologies and trends as well as 150M patents, news articles and market reports. This data includes detailed firmographic insights into approximately 7 million startups, scaleups, and tech companies. Leveraging this exhaustive database, we provide actionable insights for startup scouting, trend discovery, and technology landscaping.

For this report, we focused on the evolution of composites over the past 5 years, utilizing our platform’s trend intelligence feature. Key data points analyzed include:

  • Total Companies working in the sector
  • News Coverage and Annual Growth
  • Market Maturity and Patents
  • Global Search Volume & Growth
  • Funding Activity and Top Countries
  • Subtrends within composites

Our data is refreshed regularly, enabling trend comparisons for deeper insights into their relative impact and importance.

Additionally, we reviewed trusted external resources to supplement our findings with broader market data and predictions, ensuring a reliable and comprehensive overview of the composites market.

What Data is used to create this Composites Market Report?

Based on data provided by the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, we observe that the composites market stands out in the following categories relative to the 20K+ technologies and trends we track.

These categories provide a comprehensive overview of the market’s key metrics and inform the future direction of the market.

  • News Coverage & Publications: The field generated over 19 000 publications last year. This shows substantial news coverage and research activity.
  • Funding Rounds: Our database contains data from 7900 funding rounds, highlighting active financial engagement.
  • Manpower: The market, with over 3 million employees, added 112 000+ new workers last year. It is an indication of strong manpower growth.
  • Patents: The composites sector filed 472 000+ patents, demonstrating significant innovation.
  • Grants: The domain received 4700+ grants, which reflects strong support for research and development.
  • Yearly Global Search Growth: The topic shows increasing interest and awareness with yearly global search growth of 3.11%.

Explore the Data-driven Composites Market Report for 2026

Did you know that composites have ancient origins? Over 6000 years ago, Egyptians and Mesopotamians reinforced mud bricks with straw and plywood, creating early man-made composite materials.

The composites market currently features a total of 42 000 companies, with 820+ identified startups. Over the past year, sector growth declined by 3.14%.

Moreover, the global composites market is expected to reach USD 181.7 billion by 2028, growing at a 10.8% CAGR from 2023 to 2028.

 

 

The global manpower within the composites sector reached 3 million employees, with a notable growth of 112 000 new employees in the last year. The domain has recorded 472 000 patents and 47 00 grants, reflecting substantial innovation activity.

The top five country hubs for composites are the USA, UK, China, India, and Germany, while key city hubs include London, Sydney, Melbourne, New York City, and Mumbai.

A Snapshot of the Global Composites Market

The composites sector saw an annual growth rate of -3.14%. It reflects market challenges such as high energy and commodity prices, supply chain disruptions, and economic uncertainties over the past year.

The sector includes 820+ startups. There are over 1000 companies in the early stages, showing innovation-driven activity. The field also experienced 2700+ mergers and acquisitions, which indicates consolidation trends.

 

 

Patent activity remains high, with 472000 patents recorded and 59000 unique applicants contributing. The yearly patent growth rate is 1.71%, showing consistent progress in research and development. China leads in patent issuance with over 163 000 patents, followed by the USA with more than 109 000. This highlights their contributions to technological advancements in composites.

Explore the Funding Landscape of the Composites Market

The composites sector shows strong financial activity, with an average investment of USD 29.8 million per funding round. This highlights significant capital flows in the market. Over 5100 investors have participated, reflecting diverse interests.

Also, more than 7900 funding rounds have been closed, which emphasizes ongoing investment momentum. Further, over 3000 companies have secured investments. This showcases the market’s ability to attract and retain financial support for growth and innovation.

Who is Investing in the Composites Market?

The top investors in the composites market have contributed over USD 4 billion, playing a key role in industry growth. Below is a breakdown of the top investors, their investment amounts, and the number of companies they have supported:

 

 

Top Composites Innovations & Trends

Discover the emerging trends in the composites market along with their firmographic details:

 

 

  • Polymer Composites enhance durability and reduce material weight in automotive and aerospace industries. With 700+ companies and 123K employees, this trend leads the market. It added 6.2K employees last year and has an annual growth rate of 9.07%.
  • Nanocomposites improve performance properties like strength and thermal resistance, particularly in electronics and energy storage. This trend, comprising 400+ companies with 29K+ employees, achieved a 2.08% growth rate. It added 1400 employees last year, which is an indication of steady development in advanced applications.
  • Bio Composites replace conventional materials with eco-friendly alternatives in packaging and construction. It is represented by 370 companies, and 20.7K employees, and shows a 8.06% annual growth rate. It gained 1400 employees last year, reflecting increased activity.

5 Top Examples from 800+ Innovative Composites Startups

The five innovative startups showcased below are picked based on data including the trend they operate within and their relevance, founding year, funding status, and more. Book a demo to find promising startups, emerging trends, or industry data specific to your company’s needs and objectives.

Nova Composites produces Fire-retardant Composite Structures

UAE-based Nova Composites develops fire-retardant composite structures and components. It offers solutions based on epoxy, vinyl ester, polyester, or phenolic resins for specific project needs.

The startup maintains a comprehensive library of material and laminate testing to provide independently verified solutions that meet various fire testing standards for architectural applications like walls, roofs, cladding, and façades.

Nova Composites’ materials also offer high strength, lightweight properties, corrosion resistance, durability, low maintenance, chemical resistance, non-magnetic characteristics, and thermal insulation. This allows designers and engineers to create lighter, stronger, and more efficient structures and components.

Lineat develops Recycled Carbon Fiber Tapes

UK startup Lineat makes Aligned Formable Fibre Technology (AFFT) tapes, which are unidirectional pre-preg tapes made of highly aligned short fibers. This alignment emulates virgin continuous fiber materials to achieve similar performance while enhancing molding and draping capabilities for manual and automated lay-up processes.

AFFT tapes stretch up to 20% strain at elevated temperatures to facilitate easy draping around complex, double-curved surfaces. By using reclaimed carbon fibers, these tapes promote sustainability without compromising strength and offer a viable alternative to traditional continuous fiber unidirectional materials.

RF Nanocomposites focuses on EMI Shielding and Stealth

Indian startup RF Nanocomposites develops electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding solutions and radar-absorbing materials (RAMs). Its EMI shielding products include forensic boxes, shielded enclosures, and shielded enclosure pockets to block and restrict unwanted radio frequency (RF) and EMI signals.

These products use materials that absorb or reflect RF signals, isolating device components from external interference.

The RF Forensic Boxes and RF Shielded Enclosures offer protection with an ultralightweight design to provide versatile applications and customizable solutions. Its RF Shielded Enclosure Pockets protect devices such as mobiles and credit/debit cards from RF and EMI interference.

The startup’s RAMs absorb electromagnetic waves used in radar systems to reduce the radar cross-section (RCS) and enhance stealth capabilities in military applications like aircraft, ships, and vehicles.

Polyloop facilitates PVC Composite Waste Recycling

French startup Polyloop develops compact, on-site recycling units for flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composite waste. Its process employs a physico-chemical regeneration method that dissolves PVC from complex, multi-layered materials to produce high-purity, recycled raw materials.

The modular, plug-and-play equipment integrates into industrial sites to process 300 kg batches in a few hours, enabling manufacturers to recycle waste at the source. Polyloop decentralizes recycling operations, reduces the need for waste transportation, and minimizes landfill use to promote a circular economy within the plastics industry.

Addyx enhances Composite Additive Manufacturing

Italian startup Addyx creates solutions for additive manufacturing and composite material production, including the WSM-170 water-soluble expanding mandrel. This mandrel is made with low-environmental-impact additive manufacturing and designs hollow tubular composite components with complex geometries.

The WSM-170 keeps the final composite material hollow without additional fillings to reduce weight and improve structural efficiency.

 

 

The mandrel supports intermediate compaction of plies, removes the need for inner bags, and allows reinforcement insertion without external tools. Once the composite laminate polymerizes, the mandrel dissolves in water, leaving a clean, precise hollow structure.

Addyx enhances production efficiency and sustainability in advanced composite manufacturing with tailored, innovative solutions.

Gain Comprehensive Insights into Composites Trends, Startups, or Technologies

The 2026 composites market presents a dynamic landscape, driven by advancements in polymer, bio, and nanocomposites. Emerging trends in sustainable materials, lightweight solutions, and enhanced performance technologies are set to shape future growth.

Get in touch to explore all 800+ startups and scaleups, as well as all industry trends impacting composite companies.