Zaandam, 06 October 2026 – SL Materials, formerly known as Urban Mine, has secured an initial €100 million investment commitment from Aviva Investors’ Climate Transition European Infrastructure Fund (“CTEIF”) and ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund (“ABN AMRO SIF”) to support its next phase of growth. The transaction was supported by Kingsley Capital Partners (“KCP”), including the contribution of Kingsley’s UK circular-concrete platform Koreco as a wholly owned subsidiary of SL Materials.
SL Materials is redefining how concrete is recycled through a proprietary end-to-end process that addresses one of the construction industry’s major decarbonisation and resource-efficiency challenge: recovering valuable materials from demolished concrete and returning them to high-value use.
Through its Smart Liberator and Smart Refiner technologies, SL Materials recovers cementitious materials, sand and gravel from demolished concrete for reuse in new, low-carbon concrete applications, rather than being downcycled into low-value filler materials.
The Company’s key differentiator is its ability to combine circularity with commercial performance. By preserving the quality of recovered concrete fractions, SL Materials can produce high-quality, low-carbon concrete that meets the strength, durability and certification requirements of conventional concrete, without requiring customers to compromise on performance, availability or economics. Depending on product specification and application, SL Materials' solutions also deliver significant reductions in embodied carbon compared with traditional concrete.
The investment will support the expansion of SL Materials’ existing operations in Zaandam, in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, as well as the development of additional production capacity across new sites. It will also enable continued innovation and unlock additional potential from its existing site.
Alongside the launch of the new identity, the company has also made changes to its leadership. James Cousins has joined as CEO and Steve Millburn as COO. Together, they bring decades experience in scaling and operating industrial businesses and will support the Company as it expands its production footprint. Alongside René Rutte, CTO, and Sven Hiskemuller van der Zijden, CCO, they form the core management team responsible for SL Materials’ next phase of growth.
“This investment is a strong endorsement of both our proven technology and the scale of the opportunity ahead. We have demonstrated that concrete recovered from demolition can be transformed at industrial scale into high-quality materials for new concrete, without compromising quality or technical performance. With the long-term backing of Aviva Investors CTEIF and ABN AMRO SIF, we can now build on that foundation, expand our capacity and establish SL Materials as a leading industrial platform for circular low carbon concrete.”
The investment coincides with the launch of the SL Materials identity, bringing the company’s technology, operations and growth ambitions together under a single brand. Formerly known as Urban Mine, the business is entering its next phase with the institutional backing and resources to scale.
“SL Materials combines a proven track record of operating at commercial scale with what we believe is a compelling opportunity for further growth. Having demonstrated its ability to produce high-quality circular concrete that can compete with conventional products on both performance and economics, we see significant potential to build on that established platform, particularly through near-term opportunities to expand production capacity and develop new sites. We look forward to working alongside our partners to ready SL Materials for its next phase of growth as circular concrete adoption continues to develop across European markets and we seek to unlock investments that can support long-term outcomes for investors”
“We are convicted that circular concrete can become the industry standard”, said Maarten Blomme, Head of Corporate Investments at ABN AMRO. “We invested in SL Materials to scale their unique concrete-recovery technology and with this follow on investment SL Materials is well positioned to expand capacity and make Liberated Concrete available to more customers. Financing innovative companies such as SL Materials is an important part of how ABN AMRO supports Europe’s transition to a more circular and resilient economy, and we are proud to support that ambition.”
“We founded Koreco with the objective of bringing SL Materials’ differentiated concrete-recovery technology to the UK market”, said Jakub Świeboda, Partner at Kingsley Capital Partners. ”Combining Koreco directly with SL Materials will create a stronger and more fully aligned platform for long-term growth. With Koreco now wholly owned by SL Materials, the Group is well positioned to accelerate its development in the UK.”
SL Materials, formerly known as Urban Mine, develops and produces high-quality circular construction materials from concrete recovered from demolition. Using its Smart Liberator and Smart Refiner technologies, the company recovers reusable sand, gravel and cementitious fractions marketed as Freesand, Freegravel and Freement.
SL Materials operates its integrated production facility in Zaandam, in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, and is developing additional opportunities in the Netherlands and new international markets.
Sven Hiskemuller van der Zijden
Chief Commercial Officer
s.hiskemuller@sl-materials.nl
+31 20 280 5900
Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. The business delivers investment management solutions, services and client-driven performance to clients worldwide. Aviva Investors operates in 9 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the United Kingdom with £273 billion in assets under management as at 30 June 2026.
ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund is one of the largest private impact funds in the Netherlands and invests in companies that have a positive impact on the environment, climate or society with a focus on decarbonisation. With a commitment of EUR 500m, funded and managed exclusively by ABN AMRO, we invest through direct equity investments in key transition sectors, and focus on energy transition, the built environment, and sustainable consumption.
Kingsley Capital Partners is a London based investment holding company with a track record creating new businesses in sectors that have potential for long-term secular growth. Kingsley has a strong record establishing businesses in the ‘infratech’ space with previous ventures securing over €300m in equity commitments, including a telecom towers company, a UK wholesale fibre business, and a EV charge point operator.
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