Xampla
Taking abundant natural polymers and turning them into high-performance, fully biodegradable materials that can be used to eliminate the most polluting plastics.
Funding Opportunity
Xampla is looking to raise £2-3m of funding to support commercialisation and scale-up driven by significant inbound customer interest.
£2-3M
Series A
Overview
Xampla engineers natural polymers to radically improve their functional performance, without any chemical modification. Their materials can be used to replace the most polluting plastics. Under their consumer brand Morro, Xampla offers a range of materials that are plant based and completely plastic free. Morro materials are strong, natural and fully biodegradable.
Xampla’s manufacturing process produces plant-based resins which are processed into multiple different products such as films, coatings and microcapsules using abundant plant-based feedstocks. Their solution can be seamlessly integrated into existing machinery and processes as a drop-in replacement for plastic.
The Challenge
Single-use plastics, intentionally added microplastics and polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs) are the most polluting forms of plastics. Annually over 40m tonnes of single-use plastic packaging is generated of which only 9% is recycled and the rest is incinerated or sent to landfill. Additionally, almost 3m tonnes of functional and barrier polymer coatings used in paper/paperboard applications was consumed in 2020 (growing to 4m tonnes by 2026). In addition to highly visible single-use plastic packaging, over 36m tonnes of PLFs are consumed annually. PLFs are specialty chemicals used in agriculture, household cleaning products, paints and coatings, personal care and cosmetics, and water treatment. Like single-use plastics, PLFs are often in use for a short period of time; however, since PLFs typically enter the environment through wastewater treatment plants at end of life, many PLFs accumulate in sewage sludge, ultimately reaching agricultural soils, or are discharged in wastewater effluent, ultimately reaching the oceans.
The Solution
Xampla engineers natural polymers that can be used to replace the most polluting plastics and eliminate the reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels in multiple different products such as films, coatings and microcapsules. Xampla’s Morro materials are not chemically modified and hence they are not considered a plastic according to the latest EU single-use plastics directive.
Some “biodegradable” solutions need very specific conditions in which to biodegrade, and those conditions are often unachievable where there are unreliable waste collection systems and hence such materials are discarded into the natural environment where they will accumulate and contribute to microplastic pollution. Xampla’s high-performance natural polymer materials are sustainable, and naturally biodegrade in the environment, without releasing any harmful residues. They start as natural materials, and they end as natural materials.
Patents and Publications
- Plant based functional materials – WO 2020/177881 & WO 2020/178448
- Plant protein based microcapsules – WO 2022/053553
- Protein dispersions – WO 2002/053555
- Fragrance microcapsules – WO 2023/170158
- Plant protein films – WO 2023/079112 & WO 2023/079115
- Dispersion spray drying – WO 2023/170156
- Dispersion emulsions – WO 2023/170176
Management Team
Alexandra French | CEO
Alexandra French, an experienced chemist with a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, has joined Xampla to lead it through the next phase of growth.
Alexandra brings extensive experience after 25 years at specialty chemicals company, Johnson Matthey, where she held a variety of senior leadership, commercial, operation and technical roles, and her most recent role leading operations at AIM listed company, Titon, across the UK, Europe, the US and South Korea.
Dr Marc Rodriguez Garcia | CTO & Co-Founder
Dr Marc Rodriguez Garcia is CTO and co-founder of Xampla. Marc leads Xampla’s technical development, having developed the technology with Professor Knowles as a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He received his PhD from the University of Glasgow and his expertise lies in the use of natural biopolymers in microencapsulation and other structured materials.
Dan Hawksley | CFO
Dan Hawksley is the CFO at Xampla. Originally a chemist, Dan retrained as an accountant with Deloitte before moving on to work for a variety of high-growth technology focused companies including venture capital firm, Amadeus Capital Partners and systematic hedge fund, Cantab Capital Partners. Dan brings a wealth and diversity of experience to Xampla to help it scale-up operations and achieve commercial success.
Contact
