Robert Downey
Singapore-based RWDC Industries, which develops a biodegradable alternative to plastic, has closed a US$95.1 million Series B2 funding round co-led by Vickers Venture Partners and Temasek.
CPV/CAP Pensionskasse Coop (Switzerland), Optimas Global Healthcare Fund (Hong Kong), and existing shareholders also co-invested, bringing its total funding raised to date to US$208 million.
RWDC Industries will use the funding to expand its PHA production capacity in its plant located in Athens in the US state of Georgia to 50 kiloton per year and develop a production facility in Singapore. The company is in discussions with the Singapore authorities to secure a site.
RWDC CEO and Co-founder Daniel Carraway said: “The funding helps us accelerate the production of Solon, our sustainable PHA material. It will support the largest packaging users (converters and brand owners) and consumers to reduce their use of fossil fuel-based plastics significantly.”
“It will speed up the adoption of sustainable packaging and help many of the world’s largest brands meet their sustainable packaging commitments of having 100 per cent of their packaging be recyclable, biodegradable or compostable by 2025,” he added.
RWDC executive chairman and co-founder Roland Wee commented: “The funding will enable us to innovate and expand the range of applications of PHA. It will also support the production of Solon in Singapore, which is home to many of the global FMCG brands that rely on packaging to keep their products fresh and safe. I will also help us to be strategically located in Asia, which is the epicentre of the global plastic waste and marine litter problem.”
Founded in 2015 by Wee and Carraway (CEO), RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions. In particular, it produces medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA) biopolymers designed for use across a broad range of applications.
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PHAs are linear polyesters naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar and are widely recognised as the only commercially viable biodegradable bioplastic. RWDC claims its PHA is fully biodegradable in soil, water and marine conditions (i.e. all potential end-of-life scenarios), fully biodegrading within weeks with no toxic residue.
Early this year, Hollywood star and ‘Iron Man’ star Robert Downey Jr. invested in RWDC via his venture fund Footprint Coalition. This round came less than a year after RWDC raised US$22 million in Series A funding, co-led by Vickers Venture, in April 2019. Previously, the startup bagged US$13 million in October 2018.
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