Biodegradable plastic startup Polymateria has bagged £20m in capital from investors in its Series B round.
Polymateria has created packaging that degrades at a much faster rate than traditional plastics. The company says its product takes less than a year to degrade by more than 90%, compared to traditional plastic which takes decades to hundreds of years to fully decompose.
During the plastic’s decomposition, there are no microplastics or toxic residues left behind, according to the company, leaving behind only water, CO2 and biomass.
The round was led by the Singapore-based fund ABC Impact and sustainable chemical company Indorama Ventures.
Sugandhi Matta, chief impact officer at ABC Impact, said: “With the strength of Polymateria’s scientific underpinning and the vast scalability of its technology, we believe that the solution developed by the company can help address challenges in plastic packaging-related pollution.”
Spun out of Imperial College London in 2015, the climate tech startup’s plastic is used by Twickenham Rugby Stadium and the Chicago Marathon.
Matta added: “We look forward to helping the team expand its commercialisation reach and further generate impact at scale in Asia.”
Following its Series B raise, Polymateria said it will enter new markets, invest in its Imperial College London laboratory and work on commercialisation.
Yash Lohia, chairman of the ESG Council at Indorama Ventures, said: “What started as a relationship between customer and technology provider has now become a strategic alliance.
Meanwhile, sustainable material startup Kelpi is looking to tackle the issues of plastic with seaweed.
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