IsoHemp

About IsoHemp

IsoHemp, founded in 2011 by engineers Olivier Beghin and Jean-Baptiste de Mahieu, is a Belgian industrial manufacturer of sustainable hemp-based building materials. A third engineer, Anthony De Mot, joined the founding team early on, driven by a shared passion for sustainable construction and the untapped potential of hemp. The company was born from the idea of industrializing hempcrete, a material previously used only in artisanal applications, by creating a simple, lightweight, and certified hemp block accessible to all construction professionals.

The company's core product is the IsoHemp hemp block, a non-load-bearing masonry product made from hemp shiv, lime, and water. These blocks are used for building insulating envelopes, partition walls, and for lining existing walls in both new constructions and renovation projects. The product's key benefits include high thermal and acoustic insulation, natural humidity regulation, and fire resistance, contributing to healthier indoor environments and significant energy savings. The production process is designed for low energy consumption, involving molding and natural air-drying without any baking, and operates on a zero-waste principle where production scraps and cleaning water are recycled back into the manufacturing process.

Headquartered in Fernelmont, Belgium, IsoHemp serves residential, commercial, and industrial sectors through a distribution network across several European countries, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The business model centers on the industrial-scale manufacturing and sale of its hemp blocks and complementary products like mortars, lintels, and plasters. Significant investments have fueled the company's growth, including a €5 million investment in 2019 to optimize its production site and the inauguration of a new, highly automated factory in 2021. This state-of-the-art facility increased production capacity fivefold to five million blocks per year, enabling the construction of up to 1,800 houses annually. The company's growth has been supported by investors such as SRIW, Nomainvest, and Cheniclem Private Equity.