Polymateria develops a biotransformation technology that safely returns commonly polluted plastic items to nature without leaving microplastics or toxic residue. The company was established at Imperial College London and is led by Lee Davy-Martin. It has gained commercial traction with customers worldwide, including Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the Chicago Marathon and 7‑ELEVEN Taiwan. Polymateria raised £20M in Series B funding to accelerate commercialization of its technology at scale. The company plans to use the funds to invest in its people and R&D capabilities and to boost its in‑house laboratory at Imperial College London. It also intends to increase penetration in existing markets and expand into new markets where fugitive plastic pollution is most acute, including further development in Asia. Polymateria develops a Biotransformation technology that fully biodegrades common plastics and, the company says, leaves behind zero microplastics with no environmental harm. Its core products include Cycle+, a recyclable material that biodegrades after about three years, and DegrAid, designed to break down within six months for single-use litter. The startup works across chemistry, biology and polymer science in collaboration with Imperial College London. It has won two Innovate UK research grants to develop Biotransformation for PET and a petro-plastic that meets international standards for home and industrial composting. Polymateria positions its materials as compatible with recycling during useful life while addressing end-of-life pollution where recycling is not an option. The company emphasizes third-party testing and says the technology can scale without significant capital cost to industry.

Total raised

$44M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Apr 2023