Founded in 2021, Respyre has quickly grown from a young Dutch startup into an award-winning climate-tech company focused on nature-inclusive construction. Originally built around research from TU Delft, the company develops bioreceptive concrete and moss-based facade solutions that help turn grey urban surfaces into living, greener spaces. In 2022, Respyre won the Philips Innovation Award Innovator League, one of the Netherlands’ best-known student entrepreneurship awards, and received €50,000 to further develop its technology. That same year, founder Auke Bleij and Respyre were also featured in MT/Sprout’s 25 under 25, which highlighted the startup’s ambition to bring moss-growing concrete into cities at scale. According to Respyre’s own company profile, the startup also won the AED Pitch competition in 2022 and received support from the Rabobank Impact Fund. In addition, Respyre announced in early 2022 that it had secured funding from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland (INH) and NWO, helping the team expand its moss-growing facilities and move toward commercialisation. By April 10, 2024, Respyre stated that its VertiScape facades and roof tiles had become commercially available in the Netherlands and Belgium, marking an important step from promising startup to real market player.