Singapore-based impact private equity fund ABC Impact, together with sustainable chemical company Indorama Ventures, has led a £20 million ($33.30 million) Series B funding round in Polymateria, a British company that has pioneered biotransformation technology to combat plastic pollution.
Established in 2019, ABC Impact is a division of Temasek Trust Asset Management. Formerly known as ABC World Asia, its founding investors are Temasek Trust, Temasek, Pavilion Capital, Mapletree Investments, Seatown Holdings, SP Group and Sembcorp Industries U96 .
Polymateria’s biotransformation technology has uniquely proven to fully biodegrade plastic items into water, carbon dioxide and biomass, without leaving any microplastic or toxic residue in the open environment.
The technology can be deployed with no changes to existing manufacturing processes and is compatible with existing recycling streams, giving it unrivalled scalability, according to a May 3 press release. Recent high-profile customers include Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the Chicago Marathon and 7-Eleven Taiwan.
Proceeds from the funding round will be used to accelerate commercialisation of Polymateria’s biotransformation technology on a global scale. The company intends to both increase penetration into existing markets and expand into new markets where fugitive plastic pollution is most acute, including developing further in Asia.
Polymateria also plans to boost its research and development (R&D) capabilities by investing into its in-house laboratory at Imperial College London.
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Polymateria has appointed ABC Impact’s Sugandhi Matta to its board, which is chaired by Marc Bolland, who also chairs Blackstone Group International Partners.
Matta, ABC Impact’s chief impact officer, says: "With the strength of Polymateria’s scientific underpinning and the vast scalability of its technology, we believe that the solution developed by the company can help address challenges in plastic packaging related pollution. We look forward to helping the team expand its commercialisation reach and further generate impact at scale in Asia."
Lee Davy-Martin, co-founder and board member of Polymateria, says: “I’m tremendously excited to be embarking on the next step of Polymateria’s journey. We founded Polymateria to make a real difference to one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges. With the backing of investors like ABC Impact and Indorama Ventures, we are well on the way to achieving our mission.”
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Yash Lohia, chairman of the ESG council at Indorama Ventures, says: “We’re delighted to be following our money into Polymateria’s Series B round. What started as a relationship between customer and technology provider has now become a strategic alliance. IVL is excited by the potential of Polymateria’s biotransformation technology and we look forward to seeing it rolled out on supermarket shelves with many of the world’s most recognised brands.”
According to ABC Impact’s 2022 report, the private equity fund has some US$300 million ($400.06 million) in assets under management from its inaugural fund in late-2019, with US$199 million invested as at end-2022. It currently has 10 portfolio companies, with three new investments last year and one realised exit.
Reports emerged in February that ABC Impact is raising at least US$600 million for its second impact fund, double that of its debut, and Temasek is likely to make a small contribution this time.
