Cruz Foam converts chitin — the shells of crustaceans and many insects — into strong, stable, fully biodegradable materials intended to replace expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyethylene foam. The company has been prototyping multiple form factors, purchased an extruder, and completed pilot work with partners such as Whirlpool. It is exploring additional verticals including cold chain, CPG, e-commerce, construction, and injection molding, and is in talks with several large packaging-foam manufacturers about co-manufacture or licensing. Cruz Foam plans to scale via existing manufacturers’ infrastructure rather than building a large owned manufacturing fleet. The company is filing patents, moving to a new headquarters, has grown to about 30 people, and will use new funding for operations and R&D. Its products are broadly compostable (often degrading in a month or two), though integrating with municipal waste and recycling systems remains a challenge. Cruz Foam produces lightweight, durable, backyard-compostable packaging foam made from chitin found in discarded shrimp and other crustacean shells, using a patented process that combines chitin with starches, fungi, hemp and recycled fibers. The material can be molded and cut to replace expanded polystyrene (EPS) one-for-one and can be tuned for diverse shape and rigidity requirements. The company is scaling manufacturing and logistics to fulfill a confirmed Whirlpool order for millions of molded packing feet and is in talks with additional large electronics, food and automotive suppliers. Cruz Foam kept operating with more than $2 million in NSF SBIR Phase I and II non-dilutive awards and has raised about $5 million in capital to date; the seed round was revised to $3.375 million and recently extended. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher invested in the extension and will join as advisors; earlier seed backers include At One Ventures, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Sony Innovation Fund and Regeneration.VC. The team plans to expand beyond EPS replacement into other chitin-based applications such as injection molding and adhesives, while navigating regulatory and waste-infrastructure challenges and preparing for another fundraising round.

Total raised

$21M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Oct 2022