What Mercene Labs does

Mercene Labs AB is a Swedish specialty chemicals company founded in 2012 in Stockholm that develops and sells patented adhesion technologies for industrial UV coating and printing applications. Its core innovation is a photochemistry-based covalent bonding process that activates substrates (such as melamine, polyolefins, and PET) so they chemically bond to subsequent coating layers, eliminating the need for soft primer layers and enabling thinner, more durable, isocyanate-free coating stacks. The company markets this capability under the Duoprime® brand through three product lines: Duoprime® M-series surface activators for melamine, Duoprime® P and PET-series primers for foils and edgebands, and Duoprime® ONE, described as a one-layer, one-component coating for polyolefins. Its proprietary position is backed by 6 patent families and the Duoprime® registered trademark.

The company operates a B2B direct industrial sales model, targeting manufacturers in the furniture, flooring, foils, and edgebands segments, and emphasizes drop-in compatibility with existing coating lines, including advanced UV, excimer, EB, and DLE platforms. It claims 30,000,000 m² of secured adhesion since production began in 2020 with no customer complaints on adhesion, and reports an average project-to-line-trial cycle of less than six months. Pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed, with a savings calculator on the website signaling an ROI-driven, consultative selling motion. The company is led by founder/CEO Fredrik Carlborg and CTO Tommy Haraldsson, and its only disclosed external funding is an approximately $82,000 EISMEA grant in 2019 alongside a Sting incubation in 2012.

Financially, Mercene is a private Swedish Aktiebolag with 1–10 employees and no disclosed revenue, parent company, or institutional investor base. Customer-level data (named logos, contract structures, revenue per customer) is not available in the input set, limiting visibility into commercial scale beyond cumulative production metrics and patent portfolio breadth.

Name

Mercene Labs

Legal name

Mercene Labs AB

Website

https://mercenelabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mercene Labs is a Stockholm-based specialty chemicals company selling patented Duoprime® covalent adhesion activators and primers to furniture, flooring, foils, and edgebands manufacturers for UV coating and printing applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Specialty Chemicals

NAICS

Adhesive Manufacturing (325520), Paint and Coating Manufacturing (325510)

SIC

Adhesives & Sealants (2891), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)

akta.pro primary industry

Adhesives & Sealants Chemicals (IMAEABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adhesives (Structural & Assembly) (IMAEAGAH), Coating & Adhesive Raw Materials (Resins, Additives, Solvents) (IMAEAGAK)

Keywords

• Industrial adhesion chemicals
• UV coating primers
• Surface activation technology
• Covalent bonding coatings
• Edgeband adhesion solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Adhesion Products: Mercene generates revenue through the sale of patented adhesion products including surface activators and primers that enable UV coating and printing on various substrates (melamine, polyolefin, PET). The products are chemical solutions sold to manufacturing clients in furniture, flooring, foils and edgebands industries.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Mercene Labs develops and sells patented photochemistry-based adhesion chemicals marketed under the Duoprime® brand. The portfolio includes surface activators for melamine, primers for polyolefin and PET foils and edgebands, and a one-layer one-component coating system for polyolefins. These products are sold to industrial manufacturers in furniture, flooring, foils and edgebands to enable UV coating and printing with stronger scratch resistance, thinner build-ups, fewer defects and lower total coating cost.

Product overview

Mercene Labs offers a portfolio of patented adhesion technologies powering surface activators and primers for UV coating and printing applications. The product line includes the Duoprime® M-series (surface activators for melamine substrates), Duoprime® P and PET-series (primers for polyolefin and PET foils and edgebands), and Duoprime® ONE (one-layer coating solution for polyolefins). These products share covalent bonding technology to improve adhesion, increase scratch resistance, reduce defects, and lower coating costs across furniture, flooring, foils, and edgebands applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Duoprime®: Product line including Duoprime® M-series for melamine activation, Duoprime® P and PET-series primers for foils and edgebands, and Duoprime® ONE one-layer coating for polyolefins.

Products and services

• Duoprime® M-series Surface Activators

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000,000 m² of secured adhesion achieved in production
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• H.B. Fuller: H.B. Fuller is a global industrial adhesives manufacturer serving packaging, construction, and durable goods markets. It is a broad incumbent peer because it offers competing adhesion chemistries to Mercene's target segments as part of a much larger portfolio.
• Sika: Sika is a global specialty chemicals company with strong positions in industrial bonding, sealing, and coating chemistries for construction and manufacturing. It is a broad incumbent peer because its industrial coating and surface treatment portfolio overlaps with Mercene's edgeband and flooring customer base.
• Henkel: Henkel's Adhesive Technologies division is the largest global industrial adhesives supplier, with a portfolio spanning UV-cure, pressure-sensitive, and structural bonding systems. It is a broad incumbent peer that competes with Mercene through scale, global reach, and broad customer relationships.
• Bostik (Arkema): Bostik, the adhesives arm of Arkema, supplies industrial and consumer adhesives globally including UV-curable and specialty bonding systems. It is a broad incumbent peer that overlaps with Mercene's chemistry domain but operates across vastly more end markets and geographies.

Direct peers

• Dymax: Dymax manufactures UV-curable adhesives, coatings, and maskants used in industrial assembly and surface finishing. It is a direct peer because both companies sell light-cured bonding chemistries to industrial coating and assembly customers, competing for the same UV-curable adhesion specification.
• Panacol-Elosol: Panacol-Elosol is a specialty manufacturer of UV-curing adhesives and conductive inks for electronics, medical, and industrial assembly. It is comparable to Mercene as a smaller specialty player competing in light-cured bonding chemistries for industrial customers.
• DELO Industrial Adhesives: DELO develops specialty industrial adhesives, including UV- and light-curing systems for electronics, automotive, and industrial assembly. It is directly comparable to Mercene as a specialty industrial adhesion chemistry house targeting high-performance manufacturing applications.
• Master Bond: Master Bond formulates specialty adhesives, sealants, and coatings for industrial applications including UV-curable systems. It is a direct peer in the specialty industrial adhesives segment where formulation expertise and customer-specific engineering drive differentiation.

Regional players

• Lohmann: Lohmann is a European specialist in adhesive tape systems and functional coatings, with deep relationships in furniture, flooring, and edgeband manufacturing. It is comparable to Mercene because it serves the same European industrial customer base with bonding and surface treatment solutions, though it primarily competes via tape formats rather than liquid primers.

Others

• Intertronics: Intertronics is a UK-based specialist supplier and integrator of industrial adhesives, UV-curing equipment, and dispensing systems. It is comparable as a route-to-market and technology partner in the same UV-curable bonding ecosystem, though it does not formulate its own adhesion chemistry at Mercene's level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mercene-labs-ab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 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 Mercene Labs