Auke Bleij wants cities to breathe through moss-covered facades

It was clear since his childhood that Auke Bleij would have had work in the construction industry. As a kid, his family often called him a moddermannetje (a fully entitled mud master), given his countless hours playing with sand and water and building dikes, tracks, and bridges. “I was never scared to get dirty,” he says. 

Today, he is the CEO of Respyre, a Leiden-based startup aiming to become the world’s leading supplier of green buildings. The company has developed a technology to ease the creation of green facades. Drawing from previous research at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), they created a bioreceptive concrete that allows organisms to thrive and facilitates moss growth combined with their patented gel. In the span of a few months, a facade built with Respyre’s cladding can turn fully green. 

Restoring balance in cities 

Cities, and more in general urban environments, are those where heat stress is felt the most, the air is more polluted, and biodiversity is lacking. Greenery and nature-inspired technologies can help restore this balance, improving cities' livability, given their ability to cool and clean the air we breathe. 

Respyre’s moss wall has several advantages. Moss absorbs CO₂, encourages the proliferation of biodiversity, and is a good insulating solution. Furthermore, unlike other green facade concepts, it can sustain itself and doesn’t need irrigation after the first three months when it starts flourishing. 

Entrepreneurial spirit for green cities

Bleij was not there from the very beginning of Respyre but joined in 2021– half a year after it was founded. Mark de Kruijff, the former CEO of Respyre, had found interesting work about bioreceptive concrete in TU Delft’s research repository and, after getting permission, started a company. While working on his civil engineering bachelor thesis–a concept on how to cool down cities–  Bleij connects with De Kruijff through a mutual friend. 

“Mark was looking for someone to work with him a couple of days a week; he had the budget to hire someone. My entrepreneurial spirit kicked in: I didn’t care about the money, I wanted to be part of the company,” he recalls. So he steps on board, excited by the idea and the impact it could have. 

Since he was 14 years old, Bleij has known he wanted to have his own company. His father, a real estate agent, was his greatest inspiration. Through his experience, he saw the ups and downs entrepreneurs go through, teaching him the meaning of being an entrepreneur. “I wasn’t scared, and being able to work independently on something always gave me an energy boost,” he states. 

Co-founder Adil Arrouss next to a moss wall - © Respyre

The tough times of an entrepreneur

Eventually, De Kruijff decided to leave the company, so Bleij took over his role. In his first year at the helm of Respyre, Bleij couldn’t accomplish much business-wise besides some pitching awards and financing. Luckily, he could attract new members to the team, and a new cofounder joined. In those very first months, he felt lost and lacked direction. Structuring a detailed plan and setting milestones helped him and his team find their way. 

“I did know it was necessary; I knew it from the accelerator program I attended, yet one needs to experience suffering to learn. There was no plan, no dot on the horizon, nothing. Employees would ask me, ’What on earth are we doing?’ After that period, I understood it was time to rethink how to do things.”

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Respyre’s growth and vision

Although introducing a disruptive product to the construction industry is not easy, things are now moving for Respyre. Meanwhile, chemical engineer Adil Aarouss joined as a co-founder, and installation projects started. Currently, there are three live projects across the Netherlands—and five more under construction—where moss-covered facades can be found. The startup has scaled its production capabilities and is generating revenue, keeping an eye on a developing market that has started to manifest interest in such great tech solutions. 

“One of the reasons I can do what I do nearly effortlessly is that I really believe in our motto: ‘a green city is a liveable, breathing city’. I see our solution as a go-to option for warehouses, real estate, and data centers, among the many, but it can’t be the only one,” he says.

Bleij has a broader vision. “I believe we can be the Coca-Cola of green building. Respyre can become the company that can offer green building solutions, calculate their impact, and sell them. Urban greenery is often seen as a gimmick, but there is a massive opportunity in this space to become a world leader up for grabs.”

To this extent, Respyre’s 2025 plan is to become more operational and improve its efficiency in commercial processes. Product development and technology refinement will also be priorities. 

An installation in Kortrijk, Belgium - © Respyre

From dikes to breathing walls

If, as a kid, he enjoyed building sand dikes, the CEO still loves assembling things. Such as putting together the pieces of the puzzles called challenges that, as an entrepreneur, he comes across daily. 

“How can we raise more funding? How can we build a greenhouse to cultivate moss, as it has never been built? Solving these puzzles is extremely rewarding to me, and each one that we solve is an investment in ourselves.” 

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