Swiss company B’ZEOS, which makes compostable packaging from seaweed designed to replace plastic, has closed a seed round that brings its total funding to €5 million. The company said it will use the investment to accelerate product development and technology commercialization readiness, meet industry demands more swiftly, and initiate commercial production with corporate partners.
Founded in 2017 B’ZEOS has developed seaweed-based packaging solutions that the company said are fully bio-based, home-compostable, and compatible with existing packaging production lines. The company said seaweed grows rapidly, sequesters CO2, requires no land or fresh water, and doesn’t release microplastics. B’ZEOS said the packaging solutions help their customers achieve their sustainability goals.
“We’ve developed a truly sustainable seaweed-based packaging solution, derived from a variety of seaweed species,” said Founder and SeaEO, Guy Maurice. “We’re not just focused on creating an eco-friendly solution; we’re providing an industry-ready, scalable alternative for packaging manufacturers globally.”
Roughly 400 million tons of plastic waste are disposed of every year, and the amount is growing. Roughly 75 to 199 million tons of plastic is currently found in the ocean. The production, use and disposal of conventional fossil fuel-based plastics creates global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are forecast to be 19% of the global carbon budget by 2040. Seaweed-based packaging has a significantly smaller environmental footprint, since growing seaweed can actually capture CO2 and seaweed-based packaging products are generally compostable.
The seed round was led by Faber, with participation from ICIG Ventures, the venture capital unit of International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG). It builds on previous funding from pre-seed biotech investor biotope by VIB, ocean-tech accelerator Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), and private and public grants from the Research Council of Norway, Global Seaweed Coalition, Innovation Norway, and the Eureka Network’s Eurostars program.
“As global demand for sustainable packaging solutions accelerates, we’re excited to partner with B’ZEOS and support their mission of transforming the packaging industry at scale, said Faber Partner, Rita Sousa. “Our investment aligns with our commitment to back ocean-based innovations that drive positive environmental change and reshape industries for a sustainable future.”
