Spanish startup Venvirotech closes a financing round of 11 M€ to launch its PHA bioplastics in early 2022

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Type of post: NEWS.

The Spanish startup Venvirotech, focused on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate-type bioplastics (PHAs) from organic waste, has closed a financing round of 11 M€. The new funds will allow Venvirotech to accelerate its growth plan in Spain and expand its workforce.

Figure 1. PHA pellets, a type of biodegradable polyesters produced by bacteria (image taken from the Venvirotech website)

The operation, one of the largest in the biotechnology sector in Spain so far this year, has been led by an industrial investor, whose name has not been disclosed, and has included the participation of a group of six business angels, the family office of the Gassó family and Giribets 2000. The company, created in 2018, has raised to date 15 M€.

The company has a double business model:
- Management of organic waste from companies in a modular way through the manufacture and installation of containers (called Ve-Box) in food industries and organic waste generators. In a 24-hour cycle, the waste enters the container, where bacteria grow, generating the bioplastic inside. Thanks to innovation in modular management where waste is generated, transportation and handling costs are reduced.
- The extraction and formulation of the bioplastic present in the bacteria to transform it into a material with the same properties as PP or PE. The biomass is centrifuged to extract the water and the remaining sludge is taken to the VEnvirotech industrial extraction plant, where the bioplastic is extracted and formulated so that it has specific characteristics and benefits.

Venvirotech has already installed its containers in three companies: BonÀrea, Nestlé and Calidad Pascual. By scaling these three contracts to maximum industrial capacity, the business is already profitable. The startup intends to launch the product in January 2022 and, in two years, the goal is to produce more than 20 ktons of bioplastic revaluing more than 200 ktons of organic waste.

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