Our Story
From Family Roots to Industry Leaders
The Remarkable Journey of Finnester Coatings
Finnester Coatings started as a family business over two decades ago by brothers Ari and Mika Hokkanen. Ari followed his father into the world of polymer chemistry and graduated as M.Sc. (Eng.) in chemistry. A long career in the composites industry revealed several challenges facing the industry, and Ari believed he could solve many of these with coating products.
Finnester Coatings was founded for this purpose and the company has a long history of close development cooperation with Finnish composite manufacturers. To meet industry needs, the company developed cutting-edge coating solutions which offered a smoother finish and a faster curing time than competition, saving time and money for the composite manufacturers.
Ground-breaking coating innovation gives focus on fire safety
When our R&D team started exploring opportunities in ceramifying technology, the result was the game-changing HYBRID technology where the synergy between inorganic and organic chemistries really thrives. The technology opened new possibilities to challenging applications since this combination provides a fantastic number of benefits, such as UV and weather resistance, as well as resistance to heat, corrosion, chemicals and dirt, not to forget excellent adhesion and curing at room temperature.
Most significantly, the HYBRID technology exhibits unique fire protection features. We realised immediately the opportunity for protecting composites from fire and the range of new applications this innovation would enable for the use of composite material.
Today Finnester Coatings has implemented its strategy as an expert in fire protection of composites and our know-how in the field is unbeatable. We have created the Finnester RED fire protective coating system for composites which is certified for the main fire safety standards in Europe. We will continue implementing our strategy enabling new, environmentally friendlier applications for composite structures.