Plastics replacement innovator Xampla has gained a fresh eight-figure investment to boost its international growth ambitions.
The Cambridge-based business has developed polymers made from plant proteins that can replace a variety of single-use plastics.
Its Morro range of products includes plastic-free materials, biodegradable coatings, edible and soluble films, and Morro Micro which is targeted at applications that currenly involve micro plastics, such as fragrance release encapsulation in homecare products.
The new investment of more than $14m (£10.4m) has been led by Emerald Technology Ventures, described as Europe’s first venture-backed investment fund that targets the full packaging lifecycle.
Other leading investors in the fresh Series A round include UK SME funding specialist BGF and Munich-based Matterwave Ventures.
Existing investors including Amadeus Capital Partners and Horizons Ventures have also contributed follow-on investment.
Xampla CEO Alexandra French commented: “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. Our ambition now is nothing less than to see our products – proudly bearing their Morro marque – become the world’s go-to plastic replacement.”
The firm had previously gained $7m in funding in early 2024.
Partner 2M Group manufactures Morro materials at its Milton Keynes production site.
Last year 2M Group and Huhtamaki agreed a deal to use Morro Coating polymer to replace traditional barrier coatings across a range of takeaway boxes.
Just Eat’s German platform began piloting the sustainable takeaway boxes made by Huhtamaki earlier this year.
In the autumn of 2024 2M Group also sealed a multi-year deal with Transcend Packaging in Wales to use Morro Coating on a number of paperboard packaging lines for quick service restaurant applications.
In July Xampla announced that the Huhtamaki ‘Taste’ boxes were also available in the UK and Ireland through Bunzl’s network.
Xampla’s technology is protected by a number of patents. The firm uses plant proteins from a range of sources to avoid the potential to exhaust a single-source feedstock material.
Its plastic-free replacement products are also exempt from the Single-Use Plastic Directive and are not subject to the plastic tax. They are compatible with standard recycling processes.
Xampla believes its products could potentially replace 10bn units of single-use plastics.
Neil Cameron, partner and co-head of materials and packaging at Emerald Technology Ventures, said that working with Xampla was part of its “mission to turbocharge a revolution in innovative packaging”.
“This technology hits the sweet spot I search for: a big solution to a big problem that can reap big rewards. And with its current global traction, there is huge potential to scale even further.”
Huhtamaki is among the investors in Emerald Technology Ventures, with other familiar industry names involved including Avery Dennison, Altana, Henkel, Heraeus, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Sun Chemical owner DIC Corporation.
Xampla is a spin-off from the University of Cambridge.