Arda Biomaterials, a London, UK-based waste transformation company, raised £1.1M in funding.
The round was led by Clean Growth Fund, alongside Plug and Play, Serpentine Ventures, Satgana, and a group of angel investors from alternative protein, fashion, and the climate tech ecosystem.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.
Founded in 2022 by Edward TJ Mitchell and Brett Cotten, who met through Entrepreneur First, Arda aims to transform waste into a valuable, animal and plastic-free leather alternative. Leveraging chemistry and materials science, Arda’s first transformation is turning the waste barley grain from the beer brewing industry into a leather alternative for use in the fashion, home goods, automotive industry, and more. They call their novel material New Grain™. Arda’s new material has so far been entirely plastic-free in its development with biodegradability tests soon to be completed.
The company is currently working with breweries along the ‘Bermondsey Beer Mile’ in South London, which was once the leather tanning district of the City of London. In the next twelve months, Arda expects to have reached a finished material that can be sold to brands for the consumer market.
FinSMEs
12/06/2023