[Ho Chi Minh City, July 25, 2024] - We just threw our weight behind Sparxell in a $3.2 million boost funding round. 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. Other notable investors included Future Communities Capital, PDS Ventures, Katapult,Joyance Partners, and SNØCAP VC. We're all believe in Sparxell, the UK-based innovator is shaking up the pigment game with high-performance, plant-based colors.
Sparxell’s Secret Sauce
Sparxell’s tech isn’t just cool; it’s next-level. They’ve cracked the code on how plants naturally produce color, using cellulose nanocrystals to reflect light. The result? Vivid, fade-resistant colors without the nasty chemicals. Their product lineup includes:
Metal-like/Pearl Colors: Shine bright and stay bright.
Functional UV/IR Colors: Offering UV protection and thermal reflection.
Formats and Sizes: From glitter and powder to foils and embellishments.
Why This Matters
Traditional dyes are a disaster for the environment, fading over time and losing performance. Sparxell’s photonics-based pigments ditch the dyes, meaning their colors stay true under the sun for years.
The Big Picture
Sparxell’s tech is a game-changer for industries like beauty, fashion, packaging, and paint. It offers a sustainable alternative to synthetic pigments, slashing environmental impact and upping sustainability across the board.
“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 & CEO.
The Market
Asia’s pigment market is set to hit $17.6 billion by 2029. With few sustainable solutions available, Sparxell’s cutting-edge tech, born from Cambridge science, is poised to transform the textile industry by managing harmful chemicals and making the sector greener. It has already achieved product-market fit with blue-chip companies across different industries with applications for sustainable colorants, including leading car manufacturers, world-leading high-end fashion brands, and cosmetic goods manufacturers.
What’s Next?
With this fresh funding, Sparxell plans to:
Expand Manufacturing: Ramp up production.
Forge Partnerships: Collaborate with more brands.
Pilot New Products: Test and perfect their offerings.
Grow the Team: Bring in more talent.
Looking Ahead
Sparxell is gearing up for a Series A round soon to scale up and accelerate their market impact.
From Earth VC
“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. Benjamin and his elite team have 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” said Tien Nguyen, Founding Partner at Earth VC