Bristol start-up secures £4.3m in funding round

A Bristol firm which has developed compostable packaging made from seaweed has raised £4.3m to bring its product to market.

Kelpi has secured £4.35m of investment to bring our pioneering biomaterials technology to market.

The funding round will fund the next chapter for the business, allowing it to expand its operations, grow its team and run scale-up pilots.

Kelpi’s equity funding round was led by Blackfinch Ventures, with funding from Green Angel Ventures, Kadmos Capital, QantX, Evenlode Foundation and South West Investment Fund, as well as follow-on investment from Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC), One Planet Capital and private investors.

After initially seeking £3 million in equity investment, raising £4.35 million (US$5.5 million) is a significant success for Kelpi.

The funds will be used to advance manufacturing pilots and gain regulatory approval for our proprietary paper and card coatings, as well as continue a commercial launch that has already seen us win R&D contracts with world leaders such as L’Oréal, Diageo and Waitrose. and their fresh tropical fruit supplier Blue Skies.

Kelpi biomaterial is unique in that it matches or even exceeds the performance of plastic, especially with a strong barrier against water and resistance to fatty content or acidic foods. Kelpi uses only renewable raw materials, sourcing sustainably farmed seaweed, ensuring a positive impact on the environment as seaweed sequesters huge amounts of carbon dioxide as it grows, deacidifying the ocean and providing a rich environment for fish.

“This landmark investment enables Kelpi to expand its pioneering work and bring to market our world-leading packaging material, which is already the choice of customers,” said Kelpi chief executive Neil Morris.

“Kelpi can now play a key role in ending our reliance on fossil fuels to create single-use packaging, thereby eliminating a major source of plastic pollution. We are delighted to receive this support from investors like Blackfinch and Green Angel Ventures to enable us to accelerate our pioneering work.”

Dr Reuben Wilcock, Head of Ventures at Blackfinch, said: “Kelpi stood out to us as a powerful combination of cutting-edge scientific innovation with extensive entrepreneurial experience. Their technology has huge commercial potential and we are excited to support the company’s expansion and market launch.”

Cam Ross, chief executive of Green Angel Ventures, said: “We have been consistently impressed by Kelpi’s team and technology and their pioneering approach to developing biopolymers from renewable feedstocks such as seaweed. At scale, the Kelpi approach will play a vital role in reducing fossil fuel dependency, tackling climate change and impacting plastic pollution.