Hemp fibre, full length. Processed where it grows.
We are raising to commercialise a longitudinal padding press that replaces field retting and roller decortication: one compressive stroke along the whole stalk, on a trailer at the field edge.
Request the Investor Pack Read the thesisFigures are design parameters and prior-art descriptions from the patent specification. They are not measured performance results.
Hemp does not fail in the field. It fails at the mill.
Fibre, hurd and biomass only become money after the stalk is separated cleanly, consistently and cheaply. Today's routes force a trade between fibre quality, speed and cost. Whoever owns reliable decortication owns the chokepoint of textiles, hempcrete, biocomposites and biofuel feedstock.
Field retting
Stalks are left in the field for 2 to 6 weeks for microbial breakdown. The process is weather-dependent, inconsistent, and degrades natural fibre tensile strength.
Roller point-shearing
Corrugated roller lines pass stalks through pinch points. The continuous point-shearing force crimps and breaks long strands into short, tangled tow.
Freight of wet stalk
Green stalk carries up to 70% moisture and sap by weight. Hauling it to a central plant adds freight cost and carbon, and wastes the sap as a soil input.
One stroke. Whole stalk. No retting.
The Longitudinal Hemp Padding Press replaces the roller line with a gantry press. Green stalks lie flat and parallel to a slotted die bed, and an upper anvil strikes the full stalk length at once.
Index
Unretted green stalks, 4 to 5 m long, are laid flat and parallel on the slotted lower die bed.
Pad
The reciprocating anvil delivers a synchronised compressive stroke along 100% of the stalk length, with rounded longitudinal ridges that crush the woody core without cutting fibre.
Separate
Shattered herd (10 to 50 mm) falls through the slots. Expressed sap drains down a sloped pan, away from the fibre.
Recover
A gantry arm lifts continuous green bast ribbons, 3 to 5 m long, off the bed for spooling or baling.
Gantry and padding anvil
Structural steel gantry of at least 5.2 m. Synchronised hydraulic actuators or a high-torque eccentric drive.
Self-scutching die bed
Parallel steel slats support long bast strands while herd falls under gravity. A sloped stainless pan beneath carries sap clear of the fibre.
In situ mobile mount
Press, power unit and conveyors on a road-legal trailer or tracked chassis. An under-bed auger and cross-conveyor load herd into a companion vehicle, and sap returns to the soil surface.
| Dew-retting | Rotary roller decortication | Longitudinal padding press | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | In the field, then collected | Centralised plant, wet stalk hauled in | Stationary plant or in situ at the field edge |
| Time to fibre | 2 to 6 weeks | Continuous line | Immediate, no retting step |
| How force is applied | Microbial breakdown | Local pinch points between rollers | Single synchronised stroke across full stalk length |
| Fibre outcome | Inconsistent, reduced tensile strength | Crimped, broken, short tangled tow | Target: continuous 3 to 5 m ribbons |
| Sap and moisture | Lost in the field | Handled at the plant | Expressed and drained on site |
| Weather dependency | High | Low | Low |
Prior-art columns as described in the patent specification. The right-hand column states design intent pending independent validation.
One apparatus family. One method.
The specification, Longitudinal Hemp Padding Apparatus and In Situ Process for Green Bast Fiber Extraction, sets out five claims covering the machine, its sub-systems, its mobile form and the process.
Core apparatus
Rigid longitudinal frame of at least 5 m, slotted lower die bed, a reciprocating padding anvil across the full bed length, and a drive applying synchronised compressive force along the complete stalk length to shatter the core and express sap without shearing continuous bast fibre.
Sap evacuation
Sloped liquid collection pan under the slotted grate that continuously carries expressed sap away from the fibre.
Herd handling
Under-bed collection auger and lateral cross-conveyor discharging shattered herd sideways.
Mobile embodiment
Frame, drive, bed and anvil mounted on a road-mobile flatbed trailer or tracked vehicle for in situ field operation.
In situ method
Place unretted green stalks parallel across a slotted bed, apply a simultaneous compressive stroke over the full stalk length, discharge herd by gravity and sap through a drain, then remove continuous 3 to 5 m ribbons.
Three revenue lines from one machine.
Machine sales and leasing
Units sold or leased to processors, farmers and hub operators. Price and margin are set after the pilot has measured real throughput.
Territory licensing
Licences with local fabrication give capital-light expansion and recurring royalty income. Territory fee plus a royalty of 5 to 8% of licensee net sales, with minimum annual royalties.
Mobile processing and parts
A per-tonne fee on stalk processed plus a mobilisation charge per site, parts and service contracts, and fibre and hurd supplied to Hemp Engineering product lines.
AUD 3.4M to take the press from engineering to a commissioned prototype in 18 months.
This is a heavy-equipment build, not a bench device: a 5.2 m gantry, a high-force press, hydraulics, conveyors and a trailer chassis. The budget is structured the way large assets are delivered: engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning, with contingency held for first-of-kind risk.
Drawn in two tranches against the stage gates below, for eligible investors only.
Engineering and planning
Mechanical, hydraulic, structural and controls design. Sub-scale stroke trials to confirm the anvil profile. Hazard review, execution plan and procurement packages.
Procurement
Long-lead hydraulics, drive, chassis and controls ordered. Steel and fabrication packages tendered. Workshop and warehouse secured.
Fabrication and assembly
Gantry, die bed, anvil, conveyors, gripper arm and spool deck built and integrated onto the trailer.
Commissioning and testing
Dry and wet commissioning, then field trials on 4 to 5 m green stalk with an independent test report.
What the 18 months buy
- A commissioned, trailer-mounted prototype, not a drawing
- Measured throughput, ribbon length retention and herd cleanliness, independently reported
- A complete design and procurement package that a licensee can fabricate from
- IP position advanced in the markets where licences will be sold
- A reference unit that supports the first sale, lease or territory licence
Delivery pedigree, not pitch-deck theatre.
Ramon Granados
Founder, CEO and Inventor
Civil, Environmental, Planning and Project Controls Engineer. 35+ years in EPCM across 14 countries. Part of the PMT delivering USD $100B+ in large and complex industrial and infrastructure assets across engineering, procurement and construction. Founder of Hemp Engineering, delivering hemp engineering services, hemplime block manufacturing and the Industrial Hemp Science Academy, with operations and partnerships across Australia, China, Canada, India, Ecuador, Argentina and the United States. Organiser and speaker at hemp industry expos, and LAIHA AustralAsia Ambassador.
Marios Theodorou
Mechanical Engineering Lead
Mechanical Engineer with 35+ years in engineering design, project engineering and project management. Twenty years as CEO of two specialist engineering firms, with over 40 utility-scale solar, wind, biomass and biogas projects, leading design, procurement and commissioning. Entrusted by the Government of South Sudan to implement a EUR 200 million organic-waste-to-power project.
John Muir
Consulting Agronomist, Hemp Industry Development
Recognised hemp and kenaf specialist across Australia and Asia, with 35+ years of experience and the last 10 years with Hemp Farming Systems. Advises on financial strategy and structuring, capital development planning, investor documentation, and financial management and reporting.
What has to be proven.
Serious investors discount founders who hide risk. These are ours, and how we manage them.
Request the investor pack.
Access is in two steps and is limited to sophisticated and professional investors. After a short NDA you receive the briefing pack (one-page proposal, technical dossier and IP summary). The offer documents (information memorandum, indicative terms and financial model) follow once we confirm your investor status. Complete the form and we respond personally, normally within 2 business days.
Before you ask.
Who can invest?
Sophisticated or professional investors as defined under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). At present we can offer only to investors resident in Australia. A sophisticated investor has net assets of at least AUD 2.5M, or gross income of at least AUD 250,000 in each of the last two financial years, confirmed by a qualified accountant's certificate. We confirm your status before we send the offer documents.
Is the technology protected?
A patent specification with five claims (four apparatus, one method) was lodged as a provisional application on 5 October 2026, naming Ramon Granados as inventor. Protection is staged: a priority filing first to fix the filing date, then a complete or PCT application within 12 months, then national filings in the markets where licences will be sold. The patent line in the budget, 4% of the raise, funds this. Filing particulars are in the briefing pack, under NDA.
Has a machine been built?
Not yet. The image on this page is a concept rendering of the mobile embodiment. The raise funds the first prototype, from engineering through to commissioning in 18 months, with sub-scale stroke trials in the first four months. Investors in the round will be offered progress reports at each stage gate and a visit to the build workshop.
Why a press instead of rollers?
Rollers apply force at local pinch points, which crimps and breaks long strands into tow. The press applies one synchronised stroke along the whole stalk, which is designed to crush the woody core while leaving continuous bast ribbons intact.
What do I receive after submitting?
A personal reply with an NDA to sign. Once it is back we send the briefing pack: one-page proposal, technical dossier and IP summary. After we confirm your investor status, we send the offer documents: information memorandum, indicative terms and financial model.
What is the minimum investment?
AUD 50,000 per investor, subject to eligibility.
How do I learn the hemp fundamentals first?
The Industrial Hemp Science Academy covers cultivation, processing and applications: industrialhempscience.com.
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