STILRIDE gears up to make green “origami” manufacturing technology available to industry

Stocholm, – Swedish design and technology startup STILRIDE has today announced the launch of a parent company, through which it will sell its “industrial origami” manufacturing technology to designers, architects, manufacturers and engineers.

In response to unprecedented demand for its technology, the team has brought forward its plans to launch a new company called STILFOLD, which will act as parent company to STILRIDE. STILRIDE – which was launched by best friends Tue Beijer and Jonas Nyvang in 2019 – produces cutting-edge electromobility products using the STILFOLD technology. Beijer and Nyvang will now head up both businesses.

Through STILFOLD, designers and manufacturers will be able to use specially-designed fittings for robotic arms to fold sheets of steel over curves, significantly reducing the environmental impact of production. STILFOLD’s specialist software will enable designers to simulate folding and unfolding their desired structure from a metal sheet, before programming the robotic arms to carry out the complex folding process.

The potential applications for the technology are diverse. STILRIDE is already using STILFOLD to build a hotly anticipated e-motorbike – the Sport Utility Scooter One (SUS1) – which will go on pre-series release this autumn. There are already over 100,000 people signed up to the waiting list.

And with manufacturing accounting for roughly 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the company is already running pilots with multinational design and manufacturing brands including a major trailer manufacturer, which are looking for innovative new ways to reduce their impact on the planet.

Using its suite of advanced manufacturing technologies, STILFOLD aims to empower designers, architects and manufacturers with the tools to design and engineer everything from buildings and bridges to kitchen appliances in a sustainable way, using cutting-edge steelwork, robotics and innovative design.

STILFOLD was officially incorporated on 25th May and the software and hardware will be made available to the market in 2023.

Jonas Nyvang, co-founder and CEO at STILFOLD, comments:

“We always envisioned separating the STILFOLD and STILRIDE brands to differentiate our products from the technology itself. But we didn’t imagine we’d be in a position to make this move so early on in our journey. We’re immensely excited to be able to affect this change, as it signals a new phase for the business where we can finally share our technology with industry players and kickstart the ‘green steel’ revolution.

“We are extremely passionate about electromobility. But early on we knew the potential for this technology to go beyond just EVs. Using STILFOLD, manufacturers across all industries can minimise resource consumption and waste, cut labour costs and ultimately reduce the environmental impact of production: which is a key mission for everyone in the industry in the midst of the climate crisis.

“We sit at the intersection of technology, electromobility, manufacturing and design – and we want to help each of these industries become more sustainable, without compromising on quality craftsmanship, innovation or style.”

STILFOLD is the creation of best friends Tue Beijer and Jonas Nyvang, whose backgrounds span the worlds of fashion, industrial design and engineering.

The technology has been shown to significantly reduce the climate impact of production. The SUS1 – the first real-world application of STILFOLD – requires 70% fewer components, drives a 25% reduction in labour costs and a 20% reduction in material costs when compared to a traditional scooter. It also has a smaller carbon footprint because the production process allows for the steel sheets to be flat-packed and shipped to small, local workshops to be folded close to the end consumer. Already, the climate impact of developing the SUS1’s chassis is 50% lower than that of traditional scooters.

The team is also testing the concept on bigger projects. The team calculates that if STILFOLD was used to create Stockholm’s Golden Bridge (“Guldbron”) – folding it on site using local steel – they could have reduced its carbon footprint by 60% and made it lighter and more durable, preventing 9 million kilograms of CO2e from entering the atmosphere. When it was constructed in 2020, the controversial bridge was shipped from China with an estimated environmental impact equal to 3000 transatlantic flights.

STILRIDE has raised £3.7m in funding to date.