UK – Kelpi, a sustainable material startup from Bath, has secured US$3.63 million (£3m) in seed funding to advance the development of its bioplastic for packaging.
The latest seed funding was led by Science Creates Ventures and Green Angel Syndicate; One Planet Capital provided its funding, with follow-on investment from Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC) and private angel investors.
The round includes US$804,743 (£665k) of grant funding from Innovate UK’s Combined Investor Partnership.
Kelpi will use the funds to conduct manufacturing pilots for their proprietary coatings for paper and cards.
“This landmark investment enables Kelpi to scale up our pioneering work using seaweed to create bioplastic packaging with the barrier properties required by clients,” said Kelpi CEO and co-founder Neil Morris.
“Kelpi can now play a key role in eliminating plastic pollution and ending our dependence on fossil fuels to create single-use packaging.”
Commenting on the seed funding, Dr. Catherine Fletcher, principal of Science Creates Ventures noted: “Kelpi stood out to us as a strong combination of world-leading scientific innovation with deep entrepreneurial experience.
“They’re using deep tech to address a highly valuable commercial challenge and we’re excited to be backing the company to scale up its solutions in the vital area of reducing fossil fuel dependence on plastics.”
In the last 2.5 years the company has developed high-performance materials from seaweed, with a uniquely strong water barrier, as well as oxygen barrier, grease and acid resistance.
The company is already working with global leaders in food & drink and cosmetics, tuning the exact properties of the coatings to meet the needs of specific clients.
In many cases, Kelpi materials can match or even exceed the performance of fossil fuel plastic, but in a material that is renewably sourced, marine-safe, compostable and enables the packaging to be recycled after use.
The company said its material is strong, resistant to grease and acid, and fully compostable, allowing products coated in it to be put straight in paper or card recycling.
Statista has estimated that in the UK alone, households throw away 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging annually, the most common being food wrappers.
The startup has predicted that, given current trends, the plastic industry will account for as much as 20% of global oil consumption by 2050.
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