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Regent&I is an eco-friendly materials company developing 'Soilastic,' a proprietary technology that micronizes recycled soil aggregate and blends it with recycled plastics—offering scalability for use across construction, electronics, and mobility sectors. CEO Seol Changbeom (48) founded the company in September 2023.
Drawing on his extensive experience in construction waste intermediate processing and research at a production technology institute, CEO Seol directly observed the challenges of waste recycling and was motivated to launch a startup to address these issues.
"Our goal is to make Soilastic a global standard material by simultaneously advancing technology, market reach, and ESG values. Regent&I is a startup that develops and produces 'Soilastic,' an eco-friendly ESG hybrid material fusing recycled soil aggregate and recycled plastics. We were selected for the Pre-Startup Package in 2023, won first place in a 2024 public-private open innovation program, and successfully completed PoCs and joint R&D for construction materials with major corporations. This year, we were selected for the Early-Stage Startup Package and TIPS, which are fueling our progress."
Regent&I's business model is the development and sale of finished products made from its eco-friendly composite material, Soilastic. Based on a proprietary pre-treatment, blending, and pelletizing process, this composite achieves stable quality for mass production and can also be applied across multiple industries, including building materials, electronic components, and EV battery cushioning.
"We are pursuing technological reliability and commercialization simultaneously through joint development with major domestic construction companies and collaboration with research institutions like the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), SUNY Korea, and Inha University."
The flagship item is the eco-friendly hybrid material, 'Soilastic.' "Rather than discarding recycled soil aggregate from construction sites, we pretreat it into micro-particles, removing impurities and moisture. We then blend it with recycled plastics and form it into pellets through our proprietary process. These pellets can be injection-molded, extruded, and formed just like conventional plastics. However, since over 60% (up to 90%) of the raw materials are recycled resources, we achieve both environmental performance and cost competitiveness."
Soilastic's initial target market is the construction sector. "A prime example is our Soilastic sound-insulating underfloor heating panel. For residents, it significantly reduces inter-floor noise—a growing social concern—providing a much more pleasant living environment. For developers and contractors, it eliminates the need for lightweight foam concrete curing, shortening construction schedules by roughly 20 days and delivering substantial labor cost savings. However, this is just a beginning of Soilastic's advantages. Its strength, heat resistance, and density can all be tuned, allowing for fully customized materials. Thanks to these properties, it can be applied to a wide range of industries—such as vibration-damping components for electronics and cushioning materials for EV batteries—and we are currently conducting joint development and application tests with construction, home appliance, and automotive parts companies. Ultimately, Soilastic is a technology that not only transforms construction waste into a valuable resource but also delivers performance that surpasses conventional materials.
CEO Seol cited performance as the company’s primary competitive edge. "By modularizing it with the cushioning materials used in conventional apartment buildings, we can improve the rating for both heavy and light impact sound by one grade. The key lies in its structure, which absorbs both light and heavy impact noise."
Second is construction efficiency. By eliminating the lightweight foam concrete curing process, the construction time can be reduced by approximately 20 days compared to conventional methods. This leads to significant on-site labor cost savings and offers construction companies a clear advantage of a shortened project timeline.
Third is environmental performance and cost competitiveness. With over 60% (up to 90%) of its composition made from recycled soil aggregate and recycled plastics, the material is less affected by raw material price fluctuations and fully meets ESG requirements.
"Finally, there's scalability. Fundamentally, this material is excellent strength and fire resistance. Additionally, its physical properties can be customized, making it applicable not only in construction but also in furniture, anti-vibration parts for electronics, and cushioning for EV batteries. This is the item's greatest competitive strength."
Targeting the B2B market, Regent&I is opening sales channels through joint development and on-site demonstrations with major construction companies. Instead of merely offering samples, the company secures reliability by providing installation tests and performance data, ensuring the product is ready for immediate field use.
In 2024, Regent&I received angel investment and, in December of the same year, secured seed funding from KST Holdings (Korea Science & Technology Holdings). "Because expanding our facilities is crucial for business growth, we are in the process of securing additional investment this year," said CEO Seol.
The Regent&I team consists of seven members, including CEO Seol. "We have divided the necessary roles, from material development and production to R&D planning and strategic operations," Seol said. "I am always grateful to my team members for believing in our mission and joining me on this journey."
Regarding future plans, CEO Seol stated, "Our short-term goal is to establish a solid commercial reference for Soilastic in the construction sector. We plan to rapidly increase the number of field applications by finalizing our ongoing projects with construction partners and completing performance certifications."
Founded: September 2023
Main Business: Manufacturing Soilastic, and related products such as underfloor heating panels for multi-family housing
Achievements: Selected for the 2023 Pre-Startup Package; 1st Place, 2024 Public-Private Open Innovation Program; Excellence Award, 2024 Smart Construction Expo (Smart Construction Idea Competition); Selected for the 2025 Early-Stage Startup Package; Selected for the 2025 TIPS Program (General Track); Commendation from the Mayor of Incheon (Contributions to Startups and Ventures, 2024)
reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com
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