UK startup Xampla has secured $14M in Series A funding to scale up its plant-based alternative to single-use plastic packaging.
Xampla, a British startup known for its bio-based, plant-derived materials for sustainable packaging, has raised $14M in new funding.
The Series A round was led by Emerald Technology Ventures, BGF and Matterwave Ventures, and takes the seven-year-old firm’s total raised to $17.6M. Amadeus Capital Partners and Horizons Ventures were among the existing backers that participated in the round.
The fresh capital will put Xampla on course to replace 10 billion units of single-use plastic with its Morro materials by the end of the decade, including in takeaway food boxes, coffee cups, and sachets.
“This is a major vote of confidence for our revolutionary replacements for polluting plastics, and will see us expanding into Asia-Pacific, as well as growing in the UK and Europe,” said Xampla CEO Alexandra French.
Xampla takes on single-use plastic with plant proteins
A Cambridge University spinout, Xampla was founded by Tuomas Knowles, Marc Rodriguez Garcia, and Simon Hombersley, and makes a variety of plastic- and PFAS-free materials from regenerative plant protein feedstocks, including peas, potatoes, rapeseed, sunflower, and waste stream ingredients.
Its flagship product, Morro Coating, is a food-contact-safe alternative to both fossil-derived and renewable plastic coatings, and boasts strong water and oxygen barrier performance. It maintains the recyclability of cardboard without compromising on grease, oxygen or moisture barrier properties.
Its line of biodegradable and home-compostable materials also includes soluble and edible films – think ramen packets that dissolve in hot water, packaged sweets, and plastic-free laundry pods and dishwasher tablets.
Plus, Xampla makes microcapsules to replace harmful microplastics in homecare, personal care products, fragrances and agrochemicals.
These solutions are built to replace a dangerous industry. Most plastic is derived from crude oil production sidestreams, and the sector is responsible for 3.4% of global emissions, a share that will only increase as production triples by 2060.
And despite 430 million tonnes of plastic waste being generated globally every year, only 9% is recycled. Globally, we create 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year, and there are now eight billion tonnes of plastic in the environment. This is an enormous problem since plastic takes 20 to 500 years to break down, populating landfills and leaking microplastics into our soil and water supply.
Meanwhile, over 90% of plastic pollution comes from single-use products, prompting policymakers in the UK and US states like California to ban certain plastics.
The EU is set to outlaw all single-use plastics by the end of the decade. And just as well, considering a fifth of its packaging waste comes from plastic. Xampla’s Morro range of materials is exempt from the EU’s Single-Use Plastic Directive, making it an attractive option for CPG companies.
Xampla is working with global partners to supercharge plastic-free packaging
“We have proven to investors and to brands that Morro materials are the real deal in making plastic a material of the past,” said French. “This is the technology [the] industry has been crying out for. Our ambition now is nothing less than to see our products – proudly bearing their Morro marque – become the world’s go-to plastic replacement.”
Rowan Bird, an early-stage investor at BGF, said the patented materials are “not only strong in performance, but also drop-in-ready for existing manufacturing lines”, a key appeal for producers.
“They are tackling a major sustainability issue with smart technology that can be used in existing manufacturing equipment, making it both easy to adopt and capital-efficient,” added Ines Kolmsee, partner at Matterwave Ventures. “This isn’t an academic exercise. They have got their product out of the lab and into the market.”
Xampla’s Morro materials are being commercialised through a number of collaborations. The coating is being scaled up with partners like 2M Group of Companies, Huhtamaki and Transcend Packaging, and has been used to replace plastic coatings in takeaway food boxes by Bunzl Catering Supplies and Lieferando, the German arm of Just Eat Takeaway.
The collaboration came after initial testing by Just Eat for Business in the UK, with several Lieferando restaurant partners already having trialled the packaging. “To encourage the use of plastic-free takeaway boxes and promote early adoption, Lieferando has trialled 500 boxes with selected restaurant partners in Hamburg, Essen, Munich and Wiesloch,” a Lieferando spokesperson told Green Queen in April.
Its films are being brought to market through global partnerships, and Xampla is working with leading FMCG brands and fragrance houses to replace harmful plastic microencapsulates used to convey scents and active ingredients in homecare and beauty products.
Xampla is one of several sustainable packaging innovators that have raised capital or secured major partnerships recently. Fellow British firm Notpla secured $26.8M in a Series A extension for its seaweed-based solution last October, and recently debuted a plastic-free drinks carrier at a rugby match with Levy, the sports hospitality arm of catering giant Compass Group.
And in March, Germany’s Vytal Global closed an $8.7M round to bring its tech-led reusable food packaging solutions to the US
The post Green Packaging: Xampla Raises $14M Series A To Replace 10 Billion Single-Use Plastics appeared first on Green Queen.
This post was originally published on Green Queen.