Genecis raises $10m to commercialise biodegradable plastic products

Canadian biotechnology company Genecis, which makes compostable plastics from waste meterials, announced it has raised US$7 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures and BDC Capital's Cleantech Practice earlier this month.
The round included participation from Gullspang Re:food, with returning investors such as AME Cloud Ventures, IT Farm and Heinz Group. Genecis has also secured a $3 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank, subject to customary closing conditions.
PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates) are recognised as the only biodegradable polymers that can mimic the useful functional properties of petroleum plastics, Genecis said.
It continued to comment that its unique approach to biomanufacturing PHAs with alternative feedstocks is low-cost, widely applicable and rapidly scalable. Their recombinant bacteria platform converts zero-cost food waste into tunable PHAs, and piggy-backs onto the existing infrastructure of biogas plants. Genecis is a graduate of the Y Combinator incubator program in Silicon Valley, and has won multiple international awards, including 1st place in the 2020 Extreme Tech Challenge.
The investment is expected to accelerate the launch of Genecis' first set of products onto the market with their partners, while completing the first integration of their technology with the StormFisher biogas plant in London, Canada. Together these milestones intend to allow Genecis to secure key market vantage points in the sustainable materials market.
"We are thrilled to welcome Khosla and BDC Capital as our newest investors and appreciate their confidence in our mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable plastics," said Luna Yu, CEO of Genecis.
"The funding will allow us to advance in our commercialisation efforts and bring forth the next generation of sustainable plastics."