A $3.2 million funding round for Sparxell, a UK-based company that develops high-performance, sustainable, plant-based pigments, was taken part in by Earth Venture Capital (Earth VC), a climate tech venture capital firm with headquarters in Vietnam.
According to a statement released by Earth Ventures last Thursday, the Circular Innovation Fund—which is co-managed by Demeter and Cycle Capital and features seed investments, grants, and awards—led this funding, which also includes anchor investor L’Oréal.
SNÐCAP VC, Joyance Partners, Katapult, Future Communities Capital, and PDS Ventures were among the other noteworthy investors.
Earth VC stated that its goal is to use its experience and local knowledge to help Asia’s developing textile and cosmetic industries adopt sustainable pigments by creating a bridge between the market for Sparxell’s cutting-edge solutions and emerging Asia.
Sparxell intends to grow its workforce, establish more product development partnerships with major manufacturers and distributors, secure additional manufacturing capacity to support pilot production and carry out more product trials following the successful conclusion of this funding round.
The company anticipates launching a Series A funding round in the upcoming months to scale production further and accelerate commercialization, given the positive growth trajectory and high levels of interest in co-developing applications for Sparxell pigments across a range of industries.
“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.
The announcement claims that Sparxell’s collaboration with Earth VC is a big step in the direction of a more sustainable future for the pigment sector, especially in developing 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.
He states that Sparxell’s team has addressed the majority of the technical problems associated with using nature’s patterns to create color.
“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.
Professor Silvia Vignolini and Dr. Benjamin Droguet, two scientists from Cambridge, founded Sparxell in 2022.
