Kelpi bags US$5.6M in funding round to fuel advances in biomaterial development

UK – Kelpi, a biomaterial technology company, has successfully secured £4.35 million (US$5.56m) in a recent funding round to further develop and market its innovative packaging solutions.

The equity funding round, spearheaded by Blackfinch Ventures, saw contributions from Green Angel Ventures, Kadmos Capital, QantX, Evenlode Foundation, the South West Investment Fund, and follow-on investments from Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC), One Planet Capital, and private angel investors.

Having initially sought £3 million (US$3.83m) in equity investment, Kelpi’s raising £4.35 million (US$5.56m) is a significant success.

The proceeds will fund the next chapter of the business, allowing us to expand operations, grow the team, and run scale-up pilots to plot our pathway to launch.

The funds will be used to advance manufacturing pilots and gain regulatory approval for our proprietary coatings for paper and cards. We will also continue a commercial rollout that has already seen us win R&D contracts with global leaders like L’Oréal, Diageo, Waitrose, and their tropical fresh fruit supplier Blue Skies.

Kelpi’s biomaterial is unique in matching or even exceeding the performance of plastic, particularly with a strong water barrier and resistance to greasy contents or acidic foods.

Kelpi uses only renewable feedstocks, sourcing seaweed farmed sustainably. This ensures a positive impact upon the environment, as seaweed sequesters huge amounts of carbon dioxide as it grows, deacidifying the ocean and providing a rich environment for fish.

“This landmark investment enables Kelpi to scale up our pioneering work and take to market our world-leading packaging material that clients are already choosing,” said Kelpi CEO Neil Morris.

“Kelpi can now play a key role in ending our dependence on fossil fuels to create single-use packaging and eliminate a major source of plastic pollution. We’re delighted to receive this backing from investors like Blackfinch and Green Angel Ventures to allow us to accelerate our pioneering work.”  

Dr Reuben Wilcock, Head of Ventures at Blackfinch, said: “Kelpi stood out to us as a strong combination of world-leading scientific innovation with extensive entrepreneurial experience. Their technology has immense commercial potential and we’re excited to be backing the company to scale up and go to market.”

Cam Ross, CEO of Green Angel Ventures, said, “We’ve been consistently impressed with Kelpi’s team and technology, and their pioneering approach to developing biopolymers from renewable feedstocks like seaweed.

“At scale, the Kelpi approach will play a vital role in reducing fossil fuel dependency, addressing climate change and impacting on plastic pollution.”

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