Mathieu Dekens, President

i4F Patents & Technologies operates as the behind-the-scenes innovation engine in flooring. It invents and licenses patented technologies that manufacturers integrate directly into their own flooring and surface products, enabling them to turn new ideas into scalable, high-performance formats that can be produced reliably at industrial scale.

i4F’s patented solutions help strengthening installation performance, enhancing visual authenticity and supporting more adaptable product constructions.

“We are here to solve problems and create new features and new technologies,” says Mathieu Dekens, president of i4F USA.

Over time, i4F has introduced technologies that expand what the industry believed was possible, from advanced surface effects to pre-integrated grout and new material compositions. Today, these patented capabilities extend beyond floors to walls, stairs and outdoor decking, forming a platform that continues to broaden how and where modular surfaces can perform.

The Breakthrough That Reshaped a Global Category

i4F’s story began with a simple but persistent challenge that the flooring industry had not fully solved. Traditional locking systems were not evolving quickly enough to support new modular formats that were gaining momentum. Founder and CEO John Rietveldt, formerly the global president of residential flooring at Tarkett, a market leader in hard flooring, had firsthand experience with these limitations.

When Rietveldt later joined an innovation-focused investment group, he found the opportunity to rebuild the concept of flooring installation from the ground up. He asked the group’s engineers, who were known for solving problems across a wide range of industries, to rethink the locking mechanism in a way that would make modular flooring genuinely easier and faster to install while remaining practical for manufacturers operating at scale.

The clean-sheet approach resulted in a one-piece, drop-lock profile that simplified installation in a manner the market had not previously seen. This invention became i4F’s foundation. When the patent was granted in 2013, the timing aligned perfectly with the emergence of rigid-core LVT, a new flooring category that was beginning to establish itself globally.

Manufacturers were able to combine a new product format with a new installation technology, accelerating adoption and laying the foundation for i4F’s ongoing focus on ingenious technologies that enhance the performance, usability and appeal of modern flooring.

i4F’s development philosophy has always focused on overcoming the practical barriers that slow category growth. Every technology responds directly to a commercial failure point that limits adoption.

Tile-format LVT is a clear example. Traditional V-grooves simulate grout but often look artificial in ceramic-inspired visuals, which is one reason LVT tile formats have historically not sold well. i4F’s CeraGrout technology resolves this by delivering a pre-grouted, rectified look that requires no on-site grouting. The result is a realistic aesthetic paired with faster installation, a combination consumers immediately recognize and value.

Expanding the Platform from the Floor Up

While modular flooring remains core to i4F, the company’s trajectory now extends well beyond it, guided by a vision to enhance where people live, work and play with ingenious technologies from the floor up.

“We are a platform for innovation for the flooring industry and beyond, with a strong focus on delivering real consumer and user benefit,” says Dekens.

Its installation intelligence now informs wall systems that require precise alignment. In stair renovation, i4F has introduced stair-tread technologies that integrate seamlessly with surrounding floors, solving long-standing challenges tied to appearance and installation complexity.

Outdoors, i4F has entered the decking category with a technology that eliminates visible gaps and exposed fasteners while preserving full accessibility beneath the deck surface. Individual planks can be removed and replaced using a simple hand tool, enabling both straightforward maintenance and long-term aesthetic consistency.

Beyond geometry and installation, i4F is collaborating with chemists and engineers to develop next-generation material compositions that deliver improved performance and sustainability, an area that is increasingly critical to global manufacturers.

Beyond Licensing: Accelerating Industry Adoption

Although i4F’s formal model centers on licensing, its broader influence is reflected in how quickly its technologies gain traction across the value chain.

When external pressures, such as tariffs, supply chain shifts or factory relocation consume manufacturers’ attention, innovation can slow and categories begin to stagnate. At these points, large retail groups seeking differentiation approach i4F directly to explore the possibilities of new features and capabilities. Armed with these insights, retailers return to their supplier base and request implementation.

“We act a bit like a spider web,” says Dekens. “We connect people interested in a technology with the manufacturers and distributors who can bring it to market.”

Supported by its extensive relationships across Europe, North America and South America, i4F helps new technologies reach the market faster, strengthening retail performance and improving consumer outcomes.

In 2022, Mathieu Dekens, COO&CCO of i4F, relocated to the USA to open i4F Inc. and bring these unique capabilities closer to the American market, the largest flooring market in the world.

A Platform Built for Continuous Industry Evolution

From a single drop-lock profile, i4F has grown into an innovation platform shaping the future of flooring and adjacent categories. Some technologies are engineered in-house while others originate from inventive partners whose work aligns with i4F’s commercial and technical framework. In all cases, the company provides the structure through which new ideas become a reality in the industry.

i4F Patents & Technologies stands as a core driver of flooring technology advancement, continually broadening what manufacturers, retailers and consumers can expect from the surfaces that support everyday life.