From left to right: Teresa Rothäusler, Felix Horn, Rainer Sontheim, Felix Grüneberger, Marius Horn, Anne Tausch, Peter Kraft, Vera Schenkemeyer, Julian Reuter, Moritz Köhn, Fabian Schiller.
Our Roots
out for space GmbH was founded in Kißlegg in 2015 and now has an international team.
Being granted a patent to refine and process rattan into intermediate goods such as panels, blocks and veneers kick-started the company. Before the company was even founded, karuun® was awarded the German Design Award in Gold. Today, the ofs-Group focuses on manufacturing, selling and developing karuun® materials to create pioneering products for forward-looking industries.
Vision
By combining research and design, out for space is blazing a new trail in sustainable material development.
Inspired by nature, traditional craftsmanship and modern technology, out for space sets exemplary standards in the manufacture of sustainable materials and innovative products. Driven by a vision to revolutionise the world of products and materials, we tackle unique projects which stretch from the rainforests of Asia to rural Allgäu, the homeland of out for space.
Mission
out for space embodies the passion for creating new space, space for greater awareness between man and nature – out for space.
out for space wants to pioneer economic change. We are convinced that sustainable economic development can only be achieved by simultaneously and fairly pursuing environmental, social, but also commercial goals.
How did the idea for
out for space and karuun®
come about?
During a trip to Bali, Julian Reuter discovers an almost forgotten material at a small handicraft market: rattan. He watches in fascination as the craftsmen make shapes and designs that he’d never seen done with a natural product before. Realising that the cultivation and harvesting of rattan in the 70s and 80s actually helped to preserve the rainforest turned that initial fascination into a vision for the future: to reanimate the material rattan.
Julian Reuter shares this with Peter Kraft right from the start. The two product designers have been successfully collaborating on projects together since their student days, and are always on the lookout for materials and solutions that combine ecology, design and economy. They believe that:
“A product can only be as smart, social or sustainable as the material it is made of.”
They recognise the potential of the “hidden treasure”: a one-of-a-kind high-tech material that is not only sustainable but also profitable. In cooperation with the Innovation Centre Lichtenfels, the innovative material karuun® and the company out for space are simultaneously created.
Indonesia – a home from home
The out for space group opened a representative office in Indonesia in 2022 to deepen relationships with our various partners and establish the highest possible product, ecological and social standards throughout the entire process chain.
Our team in Semarang works directly with our partners on sourcing, production and bioeconomy. We collaborate with GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), for instance, to ensure greater sustainability and transparency in our supply chains, and have joined up with the Rattan Rangers to advance ecological land use and protection models. One particularly close partnership is with VIVERE, the exclusive producer of our patented nature tech material karuun®.
Win-win-win situation: VIVERE and karuun®
VIVERE is one of the largest furniture manufacturers and furniture dealers in Indonesia, and our partnership with them stretches back to the very beginning of our story. The VIVERE management quickly recognised the potential of the newly developed nature tech material karuun® and, after initial collaborative testing, VIVERE set up their own production site in Semarang where they use patented manufacturing technology to make karuun®.
Success was just around the next corner, as demand for the nature tech material karuun® grew at a continuous, rapid pace across all areas, including the automotive, construction and consumer goods industries. And as production volumes increased, technology and quality management were meticulously optimised down to the last detail; today, several tens of thousands of square metres of karuun® stripe leave the production site in Semarang every month – a long-term investment in a socially responsible supply chain which conserves the rainforest.
The ofs Group
From a two-man start-up to an internationally operating group of companies with more than ten employees – an overview of our growth and structural development.
Awards
karuun® is not only exceptional due to its technical properties, but also corresponds to the growing public awareness of the importance of preserving our earth’s ecosystems.
