A major injection of $14m in private capital is set to accelerate UK materials innovation company Xampla’s mission to replace single-use plastics with alternatives made from plants.
Lead investor Emerald Technology Ventures runs Europe’s first specialist, venture-backed investment fund targeting the full packaging lifecycle. The fund aims to catalyse leaps in advanced materials that benefit the planet and earn significant returns.
Also leading the Series A round is BGF, one of the largest growth capital investors in the UK and Ireland, and Munich-based Matterwave Ventures, along with follow-on investment from existing investors including Amadeus Capital Partners and Horizons Ventures.
Over the next five years, the funding will see Xampla’s Morro materials replace more than ten billion units of the most polluting single-use plastic, including plastic linings found in takeaway boxes, coffee cups and sachets.
Global plastic production is estimated to rise to a billion tonnes annually, and with less than 10% of plastic ever produced being recycled, there are now 8 billion tonnes of plastics and microplastics in our global environment.
Xampla’s Morro materials offer a natural polymer alternative. Made from regenerative plant proteins, they are plastic-free, biodegradable and home compostable.
Through partnerships with big names such as 2M Group of Companies, Huhtamaki and Transcend Packaging, Xampla has already replaced polluting coatings on boxes used by food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway and Bunzl Catering Supplies.
Unlike plastic, Morro Coating maintains the recyclability of cardboard without compromising on grease, oxygen and moisture barrier properties.
The company’s Morro films, being commercialised through global partnerships, are soluble, giving them the potential to replace polluting plastic PVA films in dishwasher tablets and laundry pods. They are also food-safe and can be used as edible replacements for packaging a range of single-serve products, from sweets to soups.
Made from natural plant protein feedstocks, including peas, rapeseed and sunflower, the materials are PFAS and plastic-free, and exempt from the European Union’s Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD).
Xampla’s chief executive, Alexandra French, said: “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.
“We have proven to investors and to brands that Morro™ materials are the real deal in making plastic a material of the past. In just the next five years, Xampla will replace ten billion pieces of single-use plastic. This is the technology 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.”