Cellulose platform reaches industrial supply
SpinoutsSeprify, the Swiss bio-materials company developing high-performance cellulose-based ingredients for industrial applications, today announced the transition of its cellulose platform from pilot validation into procurement-ready industrial supply.
This enables manufacturers to move from trials into repeatable sourcing and longer-term commercial agreements. The shift responds to growing demand for scalable, bio-based alternatives to high-emission incumbent materials such as titanium dioxide.
Supported by Inter IKEA Group, Seprify’s cellulose platform has been validated at TRL 7–9 through hands-on collaboration with industry partners and is now progressing through supplier qualification processes, early commercial contracts and procurement discussions across cosmetics and personal care, food and pet food, and coatings. The company is currently engaged with more than 100 customer organisations, spanning active evaluations through to early commercial supply.
To support this transition, Seprify has raised €13.4 million (CHF 12.25 million) in Series A funding from a mix of strategic and financial investors with experience in industrial scale-up. The round includes participation from Inter IKEA Group, alongside investors Una Terra, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Kickfund, and other circular-economy-aligned investors.
With the new capital, Seprify will scale commercial production to hundreds of tonnes per year through established manufacturing partners, support commercial rollout across its priority markets and advance engineering work for future industrial-scale capacity. For customers, this enables a move from evaluation and trials into repeatable supply, supporting formal procurement discussions and longer-term sourcing decisions.
“This funding enables us to focus on execution and scale,”
Lukas Schertel continued,
“Our immediate priority is delivering consistent quality and reliable supply, meeting the operational standards large industrial customers require. In the near term, that means supporting cosmetics and personal care, including suncare, as well as food and pet food. We are also scaling for higher-volume applications such as coatings, inks and printed electronics, reflecting the broader potential of our cellulose platform.”
Robert Carleke, Innovation Ventures Manager at Inter IKEA Group, commented: “At IKEA, we look for solutions that can realistically replace high-impact incumbent materials while fitting into existing manufacturing and recycling systems. Seprify’s cellulose platform has reached a level of maturity that makes this a credible path to explore — not only for specific applications such as coatings and surface finishes, but as a scalable materials platform with the consistency and operational readiness required for industrial use. We’re looking forward to this exploratory project.”
Seprify’s cellulose platform combines deep process know-how, application expertise and strong intellectual property spanning process, product and end-use applications. Flagship product grades include SilvaLuma™, a cellulose-based SPF booster for cosmetics and personal care, and SilvaAlba™, a food-grade whitening solution designed as a scalable alternative to titanium dioxide.
