Biotech startup Shellworks announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series A investment round, with proceeds aimed at scaling its technology designed to produce an affordable biomass-based alternative to plastic packaging.
Founded in 2019 by Insiya Jafferjee and Amir Afshar, UK-based Shellworks develops compostable packaging solutions made from naturally-derived materials. The company’s first materials, Vivomer, a polymer made by using microbes to ferment second-generation feedstocks, that behaves like plastic, can be rigid or flexible, and is microplastic-free, and home-compostable. The material is made by taking waste biomass such as plants, and using microbes to ferment it into plastic-like material.
According to Shellworks, Vivomer is already cost-competitive with alternatives like aluminum, glass and paper at a fraction of plastic’s production scale, and is being used for packaging by Wild at Tesco and Target, and by Phil’s at Whole Foods.
The company said that the new capital will support its expansion into the U.S. and partnership with more brands.
Insiya Jafferjee, Co-founder and CEO at Shellworks, said:
“For years, the narrative has been that sustainable materials are ‘too expensive’ for mass adoption. Amir Afshar and I set out to prove that wrong. Six years in, we haven’t completely solved that, but we’re proving it’s not too expensive. At a fraction of plastic’s production scale, Vivomer is already cost-competitive with alternatives like aluminum, glass and paper.”
The funding round was led by French venture capital firm Alter Equity, with participation from NFDG, Press Reset Ventures, JamJar Investments, and Kibo Invest, alongside existing investors LocalGlobe, True, Sie Ventures, and Founder Collective.
