Klinea strengthens its growth in the cosmetics industry through a strategic alliance with Ivan Borrego
The incorporation of advanced biotechnological assets—such as proteins, peptides, fermented products, or cell derivatives—adds the challenge of ensuring their robust and reliable manufacture, scaling, and industrialisation. At the same time, the sector must make decisive progress in sustainability, digital transformation, and operational excellence to remain competitive.
Klinea, an engineering firm specialized in the design of manufacturing processes and production facilities, announces a strategic alliance with Ivan Borrego to strengthen its growth in the cosmetics, perfumery and personal care industry. The collaboration combines Klinea’s ability to turn technical challenges into industrial solutions with the expertise of Ivan Borrego, a highly respected expert in the cosmetics sector, with the aim of helping manufacturers design, build and commission industrial facilities that are efficient, scalable and prepared for today’s market challenges.
The cosmetics industry is facing increasingly demanding challenges: shorter innovation cycles, more complex formulas and active ingredients, stricter regulatory requirements, and growing pressure regarding sustainability, costs and timelines. In particular, the arrival of advanced biotechnological actives — such as proteins, peptides, fermented ingredients or cell-derived components — raises critical questions about how they are manufactured, scaled up and industrialized reliably. These challenges are compounded by cross-cutting priorities shared by all cosmetic product manufacturers: sustainability, digital transformation and operational excellence.
In this context, the alliance between Klinea and Ivan Borrego focuses on connecting business strategy with the industrial reality of the plant. Klinea designs factories and production processes based on a deep understanding of cosmetic manufacturing processes, defining the optimal plant layout, material and personnel flows, and generating all the technical documentation required to ensure the facility is buildable and fully functional: drawings, technical specifications, selection of production equipment, calculations and sizing of installations (utilities, rooms, processes, etc.). All of this integrates sustainability, energy efficiency and digitalization criteria from the outset.
In addition, Klinea supports its clients during the execution and commissioning phase, ensuring that construction and installation meet the quality standards, timelines and costs defined during the design phase, while facilitating a smooth transition to industrial operations.
The collaboration will be structured through joint projects aimed at solving common industrial challenges in cosmetics, perfumery and personal care manufacturing plants, as well as transforming complex innovation into real and scalable production: defining how to manufacture and industrialize advanced ingredients and formulations; transferring them from laboratory to plant while reducing risks (fewer deviations, rework and variability); incorporating practical digitalization to ensure traceability and better data-driven decision-making; and designing the entire approach with sustainability and efficiency integrated from the outset (energy, materials and environmental impact), aligned with ESG objectives and market requirements.
As an example of this approach, Klinea has recently participated in the design and commissioning of cosmetic manufacturing facilities where the incorporation of new actives and processes required a complete redefinition of plant layout, selection of specific equipment and adaptation of existing installations, guaranteeing product quality from day one, future scalability, and compliance with regulatory and operational requirements.
Ivan Borrego, independent advisor, states: “Klinea has a very strong technical profile. It is the only process engineering firm that includes professionals such as biotechnologists within its innovation teams and, together, we will ensure that Spanish cosmetics and perfumery manufacturing plants are innovative and able to compete internationally.”
Jordi Gibert Amat, Head of the Biotechnology Business Unit and spokesperson for Klinea, adds: “The cosmetics industry is entering a new phase, where biotechnological innovation and process complexity require a clear step forward in how manufacturing plants are designed, digitalized and operated. This alliance allows us to support our clients not only in solving technical challenges, but also in making strategic decisions that connect innovation, industrialization and business. Together with Ivan Borrego, we strengthen our ability to transform advanced ingredients and formulations into robust, scalable and sustainable processes, incorporating digitalization from the design stage to ensure traceability, process control and more agile, data-driven decision-making, with a real impact on competitiveness and time to market.”
Klinea will be present at several leading cosmetic innovation events throughout the year. Participation details will be announced soon.
Ivan Borrego (Founder & CEO of IB Corporate Growth) and Eloi Barceló (Business Development Director of Klinea), within the framework of the strategic alliance to strengthen Klinea’s positioning in the cosmetics industry.