What Neocrete does

Neocrete is a New Zealand-based materials science company that has developed a proprietary dry-powder additive designed to boost the performance of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in concrete, enabling significantly higher cement replacement rates (up to 80%) without compromising strength or durability. Founded in Auckland in 2018 by Zarina Alexander (CEO) and Matt Kennedy-Good (President), the company targets three customer verticals — concrete producers, cement manufacturers, and pozzolan suppliers — across New Zealand, Southeast Asia (Brunei), Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. Its core product operates through four synergistic mechanisms (molecular activation, water reduction, reaction acceleration, and densifying microstructure) at a 2-3% dosage rate, with documented commercial outcomes including 30% cement substitution, 25% embodied carbon reduction, and US$6/m³ cost savings in deployments such as the Readymix Brunei partnership.

The company's underlying technology is a multi-mechanism additive, not a waste by-product, that activates dormant pozzolanic particles in low-quality local SCMs to match Portland cement performance. The product family includes the core Neocrete additive and a green-construction variant branded D5 Green. Distribution is supported by a low-CAPEX blending model (under US$100k per plant) that pre-blends the additive into existing ready-mix silos, lowering adoption friction for incumbents.

Neocrete's business model is direct B2B enterprise sales of its additive, supplemented by revenue visibility through industry accelerator programmes. The company is venture-backed, having closed a US$4 million seed round led by Wavemaker Partners in March 2024, with additional grant funding from Callaghan Innovation, Waka Kotahi (NZ$240,000 for road-concrete R&D), and the Ākina Foundation. It operates a headquarters and laboratory in Parnell, Auckland, a manufacturing facility in South Auckland, and a regional office in London established in mid-2025 to serve UK/EU customer demand for fly ash, natural pozzolan, and steel slag activation.

Name

Neocrete

Legal name

Neocrete Limited

Website

https://neocrete.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Neocrete develops and sells a proprietary dry-powder additive that boosts the performance of supplementary cementitious materials, enabling concrete producers, cement manufacturers, and pozzolan suppliers to replace up to 80% of cement while lowering cost and carbon per MPa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Chemicals / Concrete Additives

SIC

Industrial Inorganic Chemicals (2810)

akta.pro primary industry

Cementitious Binders & Additives (Fly Ash, Slag, Silica Fume, Lime) (IMADAAAH)

Keywords

• Concrete additives
• Cement reduction technology
• Low carbon concrete
• Supplementary cementitious materials
• SCM performance booster

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Additive Product Sales: Neocrete sells its dry powder additive (D5 Green) to concrete producers, cement manufacturers, and pozzolan suppliers. The product is blended with SCMs at 1-3% dosage to boost performance and enable higher cement replacement rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Neocrete manufactures and sells a patented, multi-mechanism dry powder additive that is dosed at 1–3% by weight of cement to activate the latent reactivity of low-quality supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, slag, calcined clays, natural pozzolans, and limestone. The product is sold to ready-mix and precast concrete producers, cement manufacturers, and pozzolan suppliers, enabling up to 80% Portland cement replacement while reducing per-cubic-metre cost and embodied CO2 without sacrificing performance.

Product overview

Neocrete offers a core SCM performance booster additive product, with a specific variant called D5 Green designed for green construction applications. The technology works as a dry powder multi-mechanism additive that boosts the performance of low-cost, abundant, low-performing supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) including fly ash, slag, calcined clays, natural pozzolans, and limestone. The product activates dormant pozzolans through molecular activation, water reduction, reaction acceleration, and microstructure densification, enabling concrete producers to replace significantly more cement (up to 80%) while maintaining or improving strength and durability. The company sells directly to concrete producers, cement manufacturers, and pozzolan suppliers, with demonstrated commercial deployments in Brunei and New Zealand, and expansion into UK/EU markets underway.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Neocrete SCM Performance Booster Additive
• D5 Green Low-Carbon Concrete Additive

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 80% cement reduction with Neocrete, depending on the material
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• CRHflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld's largest building materials company chose Neocrete for 2025 Sustainable Building Materials Accelerator from over 100 startups. Enables pilot opportunities with CRH concrete and cement companies globally with mentoring from CRH's global team.
• Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of four startups selected from 70 global applicants to partner with GCCA member companies. GCCA and member companies on mission to fully decarbonise concrete. Neocrete receives access to industry plants, labs, networks, and expertise.
• Greentown LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClimate tech incubator selected Neocrete for Go Build 2026 programme focused on CO2-mineralization technologies. Coalition of five startups spanning US, UK, and New Zealand working on decarbonizing construction.
• AmazoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in Greentown Go Build 2026 programme with Global CO2 Initiative. Amazon supports the open-innovation program focused on CO2-mineralization technologies for decarbonizing the built environment.
• Global CO2 InitiativecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-organizer of Greentown Go Build 2026 programme with Greentown Labs and Amazon, focused on developing carbon dioxide mineralization and construction material technologies.
• ConcreteccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner in Kāinga Ora Bader Ventura pilot project in Mangere. Concretec pours low-carbon Neocrete precast panels for social housing development.
• Higgins ConcretecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKey partner in Waka Kotahi R&D programme for road concrete. Designs and mixes low-carbon concrete formulations with Neocrete for scale trials.
• Callaghan InnovationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganized NZ Clean Tech trade mission to US including Cleantech Forum in San Diego and investor pitches in San Francisco with Stanford and Berkeley visits.
• NZTE (New Zealand Trade and Enterprise)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnered with Neocrete on US trade mission to showcase Kiwi cleantech to Silicon Valley investors and industry.
• Cemex VenturescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNamed Neocrete one of four top sustainable materials startups in annual CleanTech Construction Map, providing visibility and recognition in global construction industry.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CarbonCure Technologies: CarbonCure injects captured CO2 into ready-mix concrete to reduce cement content and permanently mineralize carbon. Like Neocrete, it targets concrete producers with a B2B additive play aimed at lowering cement and embodied carbon per MPa.
• Brimstone: Brimstone produces carbon-negative Portland cement from calcium silicate sourced from waste streams. It competes with Neocrete's downstream SCM-activation approach at the cement-manufacturer layer, targeting clinker/cement replacement.
• Biomason: Biomason grows biocement-based concrete materials without traditional cement inputs. Like Neocrete, it is a venture-backed materials startup pursuing cement replacement as a route to lower-carbon concrete for construction and infrastructure customers.
• Carbicrete: Carbicrete produces carbon-negative concrete by replacing cement with steel slag and sequestering CO2 during curing. It directly mirrors Neocrete's go-to-market of enabling cement reduction in concrete while generating carbon benefits for producers and developers.
• Solidia Technologies: Solidia developed a low-carbon concrete and cement binder system using a CO2-cured process. Both companies sell decarbonization additives/technologies to concrete and cement producers seeking lower-carbon outputs at scale.

Emerging players

• Carbon Upcycling Technologies: Carbon Upcycling Technologies produces CO2-infused supplementary cementitious materials that reduce cement content in concrete. Like Neocrete, it serves concrete producers and pozzolan suppliers with additives that boost SCM performance and lower carbon.
• Ecocem: Ecocem has scaled low-carbon cement technologies including ACT (Advanced Cement Technology) and high-SCM blended cements. It overlaps with Neocrete's cement-manufacturer value proposition of increasing clinker replacement without performance penalties.

Broad incumbents

• Sika AG: Sika is a global specialty chemicals leader selling concrete admixtures, additives, and SCM-related solutions across construction markets. It represents the broad incumbent competitor Neocrete must displace or partner with to scale its additive into mainstream ready-mix customers.
• Holcim: Holcim is one of the world's largest cement and aggregates producers with active low-carbon cement and additive programs (e.g., ECOPact, Tector). Through partnerships like GCCA Innovandi and accelerator programs, Holcim simultaneously acts as a potential partner and incumbent competitor for Neocrete.
• BASF Master Builders Solutions: BASF's Master Builders Solutions division supplies concrete admixtures and cement-additive technologies globally. It is one of the deep-pocketed incumbents Neocrete competes against in the SCM-performance and cement-reduction additive category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/neocrete

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Neocrete