Notpla raises £20M to grow seaweed packaging research and fuel US market expansion
26 Sep 2024 --- Seaweed-based packaging brand Notpla has landed £20 million (US$26 million) in a series A+ fundraising round, double its initial target. The company expects to replace over 100 million single-use plastics annually within the next two years and will use the funding to build an expansion in the US.
Niall Russel, head of marketing at Notpla, tells us: “One big focus is to use this funding to supercharge our R&D and explore our manufacturing partnerships further.”
“The goal being to optimize our current food packaging coating and enable Notpla to reach more markets — namely the US, improve the cost efficiency of our products and to unlock the next generation of our materials properties.”
Since launching in 2014, the company has replaced over 16 million single-use plastic items in Europe, which its leaders say is due to consumer demand for more environmentally sustainable options.
“Our investors recognize 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,” says Pierre Paslier, Notpla’s co-founder and co-CEO.
“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.”
Building brands
Notpla’s Ooho product — an edible liquid bubble made from seaweed — has attracted brands such as Lucozade and Decathlon to reduce plastic from their operations.
Notpla has also applied its materials to takeaway food packaging, developing a grease-barrier solution to replace problematic fossil-based plastic, bioplastic and chemical barriers used in conventional packaging.
From this, Notpla’s seaweed-lined takeaway food containers were developed and are now produced in their millions, distributed throughout Europe and used by some of the industry’s biggest names. In 2024, Notpla added rigid cutlery to its portfolio, producing a home-compostable ice cream spoon that is now available at scale.
In 2023, Notpla was part of a regulatory breakthrough where 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.
“Our goal has always been to create products and materials that can make a real difference,” adds Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Notpla 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.”
