LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Epoch Biodesign, the Total BioDesignTM Company, announced this week that it has raised a $11M seed round. The proceeds will be directed towards the expansion of their protein design platform, construction of new R&D facilities and further development and scale up of their first solution.
With a combination of proprietary computational and experimental tools, Epoch uses biology to develop natural solutions to unnatural problems. Its first solution is biorecycling: a tuneable enzymatic process to transform plastic waste into everyday chemicals.
460 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Due to the complexities of plastic waste, recycling rates remain unacceptably low. Making virgin plastics is simply cheaper and easier. Today, most plastic produced is landfilled and burned, and thus, valuable carbon is wasted. At the same time, the chemical industry continues to use high energy, fossil-based processes to meet growing demand.
Epoch’s solution will reduce our dependence on fossil resource and lower the carbon emissions of chemical production, all whilst cleaning up plastic waste.
“Advances in biology and computing have given us tools to solve some of our most pressing challenges. Using enzymes to unlock plastic as a new resource for our economy has the potential to dramatically reduce our reliance on fossil resource and slash carbon emissions from the chemicals industry. This technology will change how we think about waste.” said CEO Jacob Nathan.
“Hardly any plastic gets recycled today because it’s so expensive and complex compared to simply refining oil into fresh plastic.” added Clay Dumas, general partner at Lowercarbon Capital. “Epoch flips this dynamic on its head by designing plastic-eating enzymes to finally make recycling profitable.”
In a recent seed funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital, Epoch raised $11M to advance its development of the smart protein and begin scaling its solution. Other investors include BoxGroup, Amadeus Capital Partners, MCJ Collective, Zero Carbon capital, VOYAGERS Climate-Tech Fund, The Venture Collective and more.
About Epoch Biodesign
Epoch Biodesign is the Total BioDesignTM company, developing natural solutions for unnatural problems with the mission to scale and industrialise biology for a healthy planet.
Their first order of business has been to design enzymes that transform plastic waste into everyday chemicals. Epoch is backed by $14.5M in funding from leading investors. Learn more at www.epochbiodesign.com.
