A Berlin-based company making eco-friendly paints and coatings has blossomed into an international player. It would not have been possible without the Enterprise Europe Network, which has worked alongside the firm every step of the way.

”Thanks to the Network, we are now selling our paints in more than 30 foreign markets, from Scandinavia to Sicily, from Russia to Portugal,” says Waldemar Walczok, CEO of SICC Coatings, also known as ThermoShield Europe.

The 13-employee company produces a line of indoor and outdoor paints that go well beyond aesthetics.

The energy-efficient paints keep buildings warm in winter and cool in summer by locking in heat and reflecting sunlight. Outdoor coatings are more resilient than conventional ones by guarding against smog, acid, salt and ozone and other harmful environmental factors, while indoor paints are designed to be allergy-free.

For help finding distribution partners abroad the company turned to the Enterprise Europe Network Berlin-Brandenburg, based in Berlin Partner GmbH.  With 3 000 experts in 50 countries, the Network helps entrepreneurs tap into markets around the globe.

In this case, the Network invited SICC to several corporate matchmaking events at home and abroad.

“At the Network we don’t just put a client’s information into a database that is then forgotten, we proactively help them find business partners and new opportunities,” says Davina Wenninger, Network expert at the Berlin Partner GmbH.

As a result of the corporate matchmaking, SICC today has distributors in more than 30 countries, in both the European Union and beyond. It also continues to rely on the Enterprise Europe Network as it pursues further growth.

 “Without the Enterprise Europe Network we wouldn’t be the international company we are today,” says Walczok. “It gives companies like ours the possibility to find cooperation possibilities beyond our own borders.”