Novacem Limited

Novacem was founded by Stuart Evans, Nikolaos Vlasopoulos and Chris Cheeseman, and is a spin-out of Imperial Innovations Group plc. Chairman Stuart Evans is an experienced technology entrepreneur, having been the founding CEO at Plastic Logic and Cotag International; Dr Vlasopoulos is the Company’s Chief Scientist; and Dr Cheeseman, a Reader in Waste Management at Imperial College London, is the Company’s Senior Scientific Adviser.

Novacem’s technology is based on magnesium silicates rather than limestone (calcium carbonate) as is used in traditional Portland cement. Global reserves of magnesium silicates are estimated to be in excess of 10,000 billion tonnes. The company’s technology converts magnesium silicates into magnesium oxide using a low carbon, low temperature process, and then adds special mineral additives to produce Novacem cement.



The company leads a £1.5m Technology Strategy Board project to develop its technology. Its industrial partners in the TSB project are Rio Tinto Minerals, Laing O’Rourke and WSP Group, alongside Imperial College London as the academic partner. It has also benefited from ‘Proof of Concept’ funding provided by the London Development Agency, and it participates in the Incubation Programme funded by the Carbon Trust.