Seaweed food packaging firm Notpla secures £20m investment

Sustainable packaging specialist Notpla has completed a £20m series A+ fundraising round, doubling its initial target despite challenging economic conditions.

The capital injection should prepare Notpla to further scale its seaweed-based materials solution and build on its US presence.

Co-founder and co-CEO Pierre Paslier said: “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.

“This investment is more than just financial support; it’s a validation of the growing demand from consumers around the world for real solutions to the plastic problem.”

Since launching in 2014, Notpla has launched products including ‘Ooho’, an edible liquid bubble made from seaweed. The company has applied its innovation to takeaway food packaging, and this year the firm added rigid cutlery to its portfolio, producing a compostable ice-cream spoon which is now available at scale.

Customers include Compass Group, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Aston Villa FC, The O2 Arena, Allianz Stadium, and Tottenham Hotspur FC.

“Our goal has always been to create products and materials that can make a real difference," added Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Notpla’s other co-founder and co-CEO.

“From our early days producing Ooho in our student kitchen, to seeing runners consume them in their thousands at the London Marathon, all the way through to today where we’re making millions of real, credible packaging solutions for industries – it’s just huge. This investment brings us one step closer to a world where truly plastic-free packaging is the standard, not the exception.”