Notpla, a leading innovator in sustainable packaging and winner of The Earthshot Prize in 2022, has announced the successful completion of a £20 million fundraising round (over US$25 million), doubling its initial target despite challenging economic conditions. The investment, supported by a diverse group of existing and new investors, was led by United Bankers and will accelerate Notpla’s expansion into the North American market, and fuel the development of next-generation, seaweed-based packaging solutions that offer direct replacements to many single-use plastics.
This capital injection is a significant vote of confidence in Notpla’s business model and growth strategy. Joining the round are Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health (C3H), an impact-first vehicle by Singpore based Temasek Trust, and round-leaders United Bankers. Continued support came from existing investors at Horizons Ventures and Astanor, with numerous other funds choosing to join the round, including the Schmidt Family Foundation, Radicle Impact, EIT Food’s AgriFoodInvest, Broadwater Cap, Kibo Invest, Rosebrook, Trousdale Ventures, and Ocean Born Foundation. The funds will be used to scale up manufacturing capabilities, broaden the product range, and establish a foothold in new markets, particularly in North America.
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“Notpla’s business is well aligned with Temasek Trust’s impact focus areas. We believe that Notpla’s strong customer traction and product innovation position them well for further business expansion, as they realise even more impact and reduce the environmental harm caused by single-use plastics. We are proud to be part of Notpla’s journey and to see it growing from strength to strength since winning The Earthshot Prize, of which we are a Founding Partner,” said Ryan Tan, Director, Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health, Temasek Trust.
Since launching in 2014, Notpla has replaced over 16 million single-use plastic items across Europe, from their seaweed-lined takeaway food containers, to their famed ‘Ooho’ – an edible liquid bubble. It is expected that they will dramatically increase this volume to over 100 million units annually within the next 2 years. Fuelled by increased consumer demand for environmentally friendly switch-outs, the company’s innovative packaging, which is both plastic-free and home-compostable, has been adopted by major corporations in Europe including Compass Group, Decathlon, and Just Eat Takeaway.com. Notpla’s materials are currently used in 10 European markets and help to eliminate plastic in leading stadiums and venues such as Aston Villa FC, The O2 Arena, Allianz Stadium, and Tottenham Hotspurs.
In 2023, Notpla was part of a regulatory breakthrough when the Dutch government concluded that Notpla’s food packaging coating was the only application on the market that met its definition of plastic-free under the Single Use Plastic Directive. It remains the only one to this day, despite the testing of hundreds of others that still claim to be plastic- free.
“We are thrilled to have secured this level of investment in such a competitive environment,” said Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Notpla. “This round not only validates our approach but also positions us to capitalise on the growing demand for truly plastic-free packaging solutions in global markets, especially as we look towards expansion into the US.”
Pierre Paslier, co-founder and co-ceo, who met Rodrigo during their studies of Innovation Design Engineering at Imperial College London, concludes that “Our investors recognise the commercial potential of our technology and our unique solutions. This funding allows us to accelerate our growth and continue leading the market in sustainable innovation.”
