Giving planes a second life: How cloud accounting helps S’pore-founded aviation start-up take flight in the US

It is no small feat for a young company to secure partnerships with global firms Qantas and Sumitomo Corporation within its first year – especially in a sector as highly regulated and capital-intensive as aviation.

Founded in Singapore in July 2023,

Nandina REM

dismantles retired aircraft and remanufactures their high-value alloys and carbon fibre for advanced manufacturing industries, such as aviation and automotive.

To drive this transformation, the start-up draws on deep tech and materials science expertise to become the first in the world to manufacture circular carbon fibre that meets aviation standards.

This means it satisfies stringent performance, safety and mechanical standards for use in aircraft components.

This milestone was achieved through a co-development partnership with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star). For a fledgling company to co-innovate with one of Singapore’s leading R&D agencies is rare – a key signal of its technical credibility in a high-barrier industry.

Carbon fibre’s exceptional strength-to-weight ratio – five times stronger and twice as rigid as steel, yet lightweight – has made it a critical material across industries.

As demand continues to surge,

a global shortfall of over 50,000 tonnes per year is projected by 2026, with signs of this supply crunch already emerging

.

This growing gap raises an urgent question: should industries persist with producing virgin carbon fibre through energy-intensive, extractive methods, or turn to more sustainable alternatives that align with both production needs and environmental goals?

Ms Karina Cady, Nandina REM’s chief executive officer, says: “There are very few countries in the world that can produce circular raw carbon fibre with the same mechanical properties as its virgin counterparts – and now Singapore is one of them.”

The reprocessing of carbon fibre

cuts the energy used in production by 71 per cent

, and reduces manufacturing costs compared to traditional methods, says Ms Cady.

Significantly, the work of Nandina REM puts it on track to eliminate one gigatonne of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

As it progresses on its bold mission to transform advanced end-of-life assets into new resources, starting with aircraft, the firm is leaning into its operational readiness to continue its forward trajectory.

According to Ms Cady, the ability to meet procurement demands and navigate compliance requirements – critical in supply chains – begins with one thing: financial clarity.

She knows this first-hand, having spent two decades working on sustainability reporting and compliance audits for certification bodies and consultancies, and leading environmental programmes for multinational companies across more than 30 markets.

That experience – together with the leadership team’s combined strengths in aviation, operations and finance – shapes how the start-up integrates cash flow traceability and emissions accountability into its operations.

Nandina REM uses cloud accounting platform

Xero

as its “grounding system”, housing all of its financial transactions in one place. This makes it easy for the firm to accurately track and extract that data when needed, such as when calculating and reporting on sustainability compliance.

“By capturing supplier locations, shipping methods and invoice data within the financial system, Xero allows our team to extract relevant financial transactions required to calculate greenhouse gas emissions data,” she explains.

Winning trust with clarity

At the outset, Nandina REM needed a financial platform that could keep pace with complex supply chains and international operations, says Ms Cady.

Xero provided just that: a seamless, cloud-based system that allows the team to manage global operations in-house without the need for costly external support.

“With simple dropdowns and entity switching, Xero eliminated the need for multiple logins across markets, saving us significant time and reducing user friction,” adds Ms Cady.

With the ability to show clarity and traceability, Nandina REM quickly won the trust of global firms.

In Oct 2023, Nandina REM partnered with Sumitomo Corporation Asia & Oceania to scale the world-first Aviation-to-Electric Vehicle (EV) Circular Economy Model, enabling the start-up to produce verifiable low-carbon alloys prioritised for automotive EV customers.

Six months later, it joined Qantas, Sumitomo and three other global aviation organisations to launch the Aviation Circularity Consortium.

The initiative aims to unlock value from the 8,000 retired aircraft currently grounded worldwide and accelerate the transition to a circular aviation economy.

Backed by these collaborations and a scalable financial system, Nandina REM found itself ready and confident to deepen its global partnerships and expand its operations beyond Singapore.

Going global on a lean budget

The US was the obvious next market as the home to most of the retired aircraft in the world. The key challenge for Nandina REM was to scale quickly on a lean budget.

“Using Xero has been a huge cost saving for us to be able to enter a large, complicated market like the US and still do our bookkeeping in-house,” says Ms Cady.

For instance, the Xero platform can be customised to suit different regulatory environments and requirements across regions, such as across different states in the US.

“With seamless financial visibility and localised compliance tools, we could expand into the American market without delay or expensive third-party support,” says Ms Cady.

Nandina REM is now in a good position to save more planes from languishing in boneyards and contributing to overflowing landfills.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that

around 700 aircraft are retired each year

, and

up to 90 per cent of their parts can be reused or recycled

.

With more than 15,000 planes expected to decommission over the next 15 years, as reported by IATA, the demand for responsible recycling and circular solutions is growing rapidly.

However, many airlines and aircraft owners have limited experience managing aircraft decommissioning and recycling.

With a turnkey solution built on both technical expertise and operational clarity, Nandina REM is confident in its ability to expand further while meeting global compliance and emissions standards.

“The financial visibility and clarity we gain from using Xero translates into supply chain transparency, making Nandina REM more attractive to climate-conscious customers and enabling entry into global procurement networks that demand emission certifications,” says Ms Cady.

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