Earth Venture Capital (Earth VC), a climate tech venture capital firm based in Vietnam, has participated in a $3.2 million funding round for Sparxell, a United Kingdom-based developer of high-performance, sustainable, plant-based pigments.

This funding which includes seed investments, grants, and awards was led by the Circular Innovation Fund, jointly managed by Demeter and Cycle Capital with L’Oréal as an anchor investor, Earth VC said in a statement on last Thursday.

Other notable investors included Future Communities Capital, PDS Ventures, Katapult, Joyance Partners, and SNØCAP VC.

Earth VC said it aims to bridge the market for Sparxell’s innovative solutions to emerging Asia, leveraging its expertise and regional knowledge to foster the adoption of sustainable pigments in Asia’s burgeoning textile and cosmetic industries.

With the successful completion of this funding round, Sparxell plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to support pilot production, secure further product development partnerships with brands, undertake more product trials with key manufacturers and distributors, and expand its team.

Given the positive growth trajectory and high levels of interest in co-developing applications for Sparxell pigments across a range of industries, the company expects to launch a Series A funding round in the coming months to further scale production and accelerate commercialization.

“Traditional chemical colorants are causing major environmental harm through every stage of their lifecycle, from manufacture to degradation. Over 10,000 fossil-based chemicals are used in current colouration processes,

“The textile industry is a well-known emitter of dyes and microplastics, with over 1.5 million tonnes entering the environment every year, while paint has recently been recognised as the largest source of microplastics in the ocean,” said Dr Benjamin Droguet, Sparxell Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

According to the statement, Sparxell’s partnership with Earth VC marks a significant step towards a more sustainable future for the pigment industry, particularly in emerging Asian markets.

“The most impressive thing is not just how efficient the team is, but the beauty of nature they seek to apply to the world,

“Trees, leaves, and flowers have been creating colors long before human civilisations, in an authentic and non-toxic way,” said Tien Nguyen, Founding Partner at Earth VC.

According to him, Sparxell’s team has resolved most of the technical issues involved in mimicking nature to create colors

“It is time to scale up the business, and Asia is where we seek to engage in the near future,

“The market is massive, and the impact is colossal, not only for a sustainable Earth but for a naturally colorful future for humanity,” he added.

Sparxell was founded in 2022 by Cambridge scientists Dr. Benjamin Droguet and Professor Silvia Vignolini.

They discovered ways to replicate vibrant colors in nature using fully plant-based cellulose, a renewable, biodegradable resource that can be extracted from waste streams.

The firm’s pigments use the same material that many plants and animals use to produce vivid, durable, and fade-resistant colorants.

The products are toxin-free and fully biodegradable, with a color intensity that lasts longer than traditional colorants and pigments on the market.

Sparxell mimics how plants produce color in real life by arranging the cellulose nanocrystal particles structurally to reflect a certain wavelength of light.

Their first products are high value performance colors including metal-like/pearl which produce vivid and fade resistant colors, functional UV/IR which produce UV protection and thermal reflection in wide range of formats (powder, formulation, foils, embellishment) and sizes (glitter, coarse, pearl, fine).

The firm’s technology presents a transformative opportunity for the colorant market, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional synthetic pigments.

This innovation reduces the environmental impact and improving the sustainability of various industries including but not limited to beauty (color cosmetics, personal care, creams, sunscreens, glitter make-up), fashion (textile coloring, embellishments, sequins), packaging (bulk coloring, films, foils), and paint (automotive, building).

Earth VC is a global venture capital firm dedicated to investing globally in high growth, scaling stage startups with deep tech or digital solutions that have the potential to decarbonize Emerging Asia.

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