Kelpi Secures £4.35 Million Investment to Propel Seaweed-Based Packaging to Market

Image Credit: Kelpi

In a significant milestone for Kelpi, the company has successfully secured £4.35 million in investment to bring its pioneering biomaterial technology to market. This funding round, announced today, marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Kelpi, enabling the expansion of operations, team growth, and the execution of scale-up pilots essential for our pathway to launch.

Led by Blackfinch Ventures, Kelpi's equity funding round attracted investment from Green Angel Ventures, Kadmos Capital, QantX, Evenlode Foundation, and the South West Investment Fund. Additionally, follow-on investment came from Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC), One Planet Capital, and private angel investors. Initially seeking £3 million in equity investment, raising £4.35 million (US $5.5 million) represents a remarkable achievement for Kelpi.

The raised funds will be utilized to advance manufacturing pilots and obtain regulatory approval for our innovative coatings for paper and cards. Additionally, the funds will support the continuation of our commercial roll-out, which has already secured R&D contracts with global leaders such as L'Oréal, Diageo, and Waitrose, along with their tropical fresh fruit supplier, Blue Skies.

Kelpi's biomaterial stands out by matching or surpassing plastic's performance, particularly with its robust water barrier and resistance to greasy contents and acidic foods. Kelpi's commitment to sustainability is reflected in its use of only renewable feedstocks, specifically sustainably farmed seaweed. This ensures a favorable environmental impact, contributes to ocean deacidification, and creates a rich habitat for marine life, as seaweed sequesters significant amounts of carbon dioxide during its growth.

“This landmark investment enables Kelpi to scale up our pioneering work and take to market our world-leading packaging material that is already being chosen by clients,” said Kelpi CEO Neil Morris. “Kelpi can now play a key role in ending our dependence on fossil fuels to create single-use packaging and so eliminating a major source of plastic pollution. We’re delighted to receive this backing from investors like Blackfinch and Green Angel Ventures to allow us to accelerate our pioneering work.”  

Dr Reuben Wilcock, Head of Ventures at Blackfinch, said: “Kelpi stood out to us as a strong combination of world-leading scientific innovation with extensive entrepreneurial experience. Their technology has immense commercial potential and we’re excited to be backing the company to scale up and go to market.”

Cam Ross, CEO of Green Angel Ventures, said “We’ve been consistently impressed with Kelpi’s team and technology, and their pioneering approach to developing biopolymers from renewable feedstocks like seaweed. At scale, the Kelpi approach will play a vital role in reducing fossil fuel dependency, addressing climate change and impacting on plastic pollution.”