Sustainable biotech innovator [Kelpi[(https://www.kelpi.net/) today announced it has secured both private and public sector funding using the FounderCatalyst platform to advance its pioneering technology creating bioplastics from seaweed.
The pre-seed funding round was led by Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC) combined with a linked Innovate UK ‘Combined Investor Partnership’ grant landed through SETSquared’s highly successful Regional Angel Investment Accelerator (RAIA) programme.
Kelpi’s compostable bioplastic packaging for food is now a step closer to the supermarket shelves, replacing single-use fossil fuel plastics which take hundreds of years to decompose. Kelpi will use the funds to scale up the development of prototype bioplastic packaging that is compostable, marine-safe and carbon-negative.
Sam Simpson, FounderCatalyst COO said: “We’re delighted that Kelpi chose us to navigate the steps necessary to successfully execute their pre-seed round efficiently and effectively without impacting on their time to run the business.”
“This landmark investment enables Kelpi to advance its work as one of just a handful of companies worldwide using seaweed to create entirely new bioplastic packaging solutions,” said Kelpi co-founder and CEO Neil Morris. “We set out to play a part in eliminating plastic pollution and enabling net zero. This funding will allow us to accelerate progress towards achieving that goal using seaweed - a natural, renewable biomass that has huge potential to sequester carbon and sustainably address climate change.”
