Hamburg \u2014 Bioe\u00adco\u00adnomy startup trace\u00adl\u00adess mate\u00adri\u00adals, which produ\u00adces a natu\u00adral bioma\u00adte\u00adrial as an alter\u00adna\u00adtive to plas\u00adtic, announ\u00adces the closing of a \u20ac36.6 million finan\u00adcing round. The Series A finan\u00adcing round is led by private equity fund UB Forest Indus\u00adtry Green Growth Fund (\u201cUB FIGG\u201d), which invests in sustainable and resource-effi\u00adci\u00adent forestry and bioba\u00adsed indus\u00adtries, and comple\u00admen\u00adted by SWEN Blue Ocean, which invests in inno\u00adva\u00adtions that help address three exis\u00adten\u00adtial thre\u00adats to ocean health: over\u00adfi\u00adshing, pollu\u00adtion and climate change. A local bank consor\u00adtium consis\u00adting of GLS Bank, Hamburg, and Hambur\u00adger Spar\u00adkasse also parti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adted in the finan\u00adcing round, as did the company\u2019s three exis\u00adting inves\u00adtors, green tech inves\u00adtor Planet A, seed inves\u00adtor High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds (HTGF) and deep tech inves\u00adtor b.value.<\/p>\n
Trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion to circu\u00adlar economy \u201cBy scaling our inno\u00adva\u00adtive tech\u00adno\u00adlogy, we are demons\u00adt\u00adra\u00adting that a climate-friendly, circu\u00adlar, resi\u00adli\u00adent and rege\u00adne\u00adra\u00adtive indus\u00adtry is possi\u00adble. With our novel bioma\u00adte\u00adrial, we can make a signi\u00adfi\u00adcant contri\u00adbu\u00adtion to solving plas\u00adtic pollu\u00adtion. We believe that UB FIGG and SWEN are a great addi\u00adtion to our share\u00adhol\u00adders as they have rele\u00advant know\u00adledge in our indus\u00adtry. The fact that both our inves\u00adtors and the banks fully support our mission was a decisive criter\u00adion for us,\u201d explains Dr. Anne Lamp<\/strong> (Photo\u00a9 Anne Lamp), CEO and co-foun\u00adder of trace\u00adl\u00adess<\/strong>.<\/p>\n To imple\u00adment the inno\u00adva\u00adtive tech\u00adno\u00adlogy on an indus\u00adtrial scale for the first time, trace\u00adl\u00adess is buil\u00adding a demons\u00adtra\u00adtion plant in Hamburg. With this produc\u00adtion faci\u00adlity, the company will replace seve\u00adral thousand tons of conven\u00adtio\u00adnal plas\u00adtic annu\u00adally while saving signi\u00adfi\u00adcant amounts of CO2 emis\u00adsi\u00adons, fossil resour\u00adces, water and agri\u00adcul\u00adtu\u00adral land.<\/p>\n \u201cThe trace\u00adl\u00adess approach of using widely available agri\u00adcul\u00adtu\u00adral side streams to replace fossil plas\u00adtics, and the finan\u00adcial oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties their solu\u00adtion offers, convin\u00adced us both econo\u00admic\u00adally and envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtally. The trace\u00adl\u00adess team has achie\u00adved extre\u00admely good results in terms of mate\u00adrial perfor\u00admance, deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment times and commer\u00adcia\u00adliza\u00adtion of the new mate\u00adrial. We look forward to support\u00ading Anne, Johanna and the team as they scale up this inno\u00adva\u00adtive tech\u00adno\u00adlogy,\u201d said Sakari Saarela, Part\u00adner at UB FIGG.<\/p>\n After the German Fede\u00adral Minis\u00adtry for the Envi\u00adron\u00adment (BMUV) appro\u00adved a \u20ac5 million grant for the cons\u00adtruc\u00adtion of this demons\u00adtra\u00adtion plant earlier this year, the Series A finan\u00adcing round is now the second part of the company\u2019s finan\u00adcing stra\u00adtegy to expand its produc\u00adtion capacities.<\/p>\n \u201cFinan\u00adcing capi\u00adtal-inten\u00adsive start\u00adups is still unfa\u00admi\u00adliar to many inves\u00adtors and banks. This makes it a special chall\u00adenge for indus\u00adtrial manu\u00adfac\u00adtu\u00adring start\u00adups like us that are deve\u00adlo\u00adping the inno\u00adva\u00adtive tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies of tomor\u00adrow. We are very plea\u00adsed to have found part\u00adners in UB FIGG, SWEN Blue Ocean, Planet A, HTGF, b.value and our local bank consor\u00adtium who share our vision and have reco\u00adgni\u00adzed and unders\u00adtood the chal\u00adlenges of finan\u00adcing our hard\u00adware scale-up. With their support, we will achieve our ambi\u00adtious goals,\u201d says Johanna Baare, COO and co-foun\u00adder of traceless<\/p>\n The company produ\u00adces trace\u00adl\u00adess\u00ae mate\u00adri\u00adals in the form of a granu\u00adlate that can be further proces\u00adsed using stan\u00addard tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies in the plas\u00adtics and pack\u00ada\u00adging indus\u00adtry. As a result, the mate\u00adrial can be used in a wide range of end products \u2014 from rigid molded parts and flexi\u00adble films to paper coatings or adhesives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Blue Ocean Fund seeks to invest in start\u00adups that provide inno\u00adva\u00adtive solu\u00adti\u00adons to the three biggest thre\u00adats to our oceans: Over\u00adfi\u00adshing, marine pollu\u00adtion and climate change. With plas\u00adtic pollu\u00adtion being one of the biggest thre\u00adats to our oceans, we were imme\u00addia\u00adtely taken with trace\u00adl\u00adess. The bio-based and biode\u00adgra\u00adda\u00adble mate\u00adrial can replace plas\u00adtics in products that easily enter the envi\u00adron\u00adment and thus our oceans, such as disposable pack\u00ada\u00adging and hidden plas\u00adtics in adhe\u00adsi\u00adves and paper coatings. trace\u00adl\u00adess is a compel\u00adling alter\u00adna\u00adtive for appli\u00adca\u00adti\u00adons where reusable solu\u00adti\u00adons are not sustainable and tech\u00adni\u00adcal recy\u00adcling is not possi\u00adble,\u201d says Olivier Raybaud, Mana\u00adging Direc\u00adtor of SWEN Capi\u00adtal Partners.<\/p>\n About Trace\u00adl\u00adess About UB Forrest Indus\u00adtry Green Growth Fund About Swen Blue Ocean About HTGF <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hamburg \u2014 Bioe\u00adco\u00adnomy startup trace\u00adl\u00adess mate\u00adri\u00adals, which produ\u00adces a natu\u00adral bioma\u00adte\u00adrial as an alter\u00adna\u00adtive to plas\u00adtic, announ\u00adces the closing of a \u20ac36.6 million finan\u00adcing round. The Series A finan\u00adcing round is led by private equity fund UB Forest Indus\u00adtry Green Growth Fund (\u201cUB FIGG\u201d), which invests in sustainable and resource-effi\u00adci\u00adent forestry and bioba\u00adsed indus\u00adtries, and [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1366],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong>
\nPlas\u00adtics not only leave behind the visi\u00adble traces of global plas\u00adtic pollu\u00adtion, but also contri\u00adbute signi\u00adfi\u00adcantly to the climate crisis due to their resource-inten\u00adsive produc\u00adtion from fossil raw mate\u00adri\u00adals. As part of a sustainable circu\u00adlar economy, the bioe\u00adco\u00adnomy offers a solu\u00adtion: trace\u00adl\u00adess mate\u00adri\u00adals has deve\u00adlo\u00adped a holi\u00adstic sustainable mate\u00adrial to combat the plas\u00adtic crisis. The natu\u00adral bioma\u00adte\u00adrial trace\u00adl\u00adess\u00ae is certi\u00adfied fully bio-based, home compost\u00ada\u00adble and plas\u00adtic-free. By using agri\u00adcul\u00adtu\u00adral resi\u00addues, valuable biomass resour\u00adces are conser\u00adved. The patent-pending tech\u00adno\u00adlogy is based on natu\u00adral poly\u00admers, conta\u00adins no poten\u00adti\u00adally harmful chemi\u00adcals, and has a mini\u00admal envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal foot\u00adprint: compared to plas\u00adtic, it saves 91% of CO2 emis\u00adsi\u00adons and 89% of fossil energy requi\u00adre\u00adments during produc\u00adtion and disposal.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nThe bioe\u00adco\u00adnomy start-up trace\u00adl\u00adess mate\u00adri\u00adals GmbH was foun\u00added in 2020 by Dr. Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare in Hamburg. The mission: to contri\u00adbute to a rege\u00adne\u00adra\u00adtive, climate-friendly economy and a future free of plas\u00adtic pollu\u00adtion. With its inno\u00adva\u00adtive tech\u00adno\u00adlogy, the company produ\u00adces natu\u00adral bioma\u00adte\u00adri\u00adals from agri\u00adbusi\u00adness plant resi\u00addues that are bio-based, home-compost\u00ada\u00adble, plas\u00adtic-free and have a mini\u00admal envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal foot\u00adprint. To exploit the ecolo\u00adgi\u00adcal poten\u00adtial, the tech\u00adno\u00adlogy is now being scaled up from pilot scale to indus\u00adtrial scale. www.traceless.eu<\/p>\n
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\nUB FIGG is a private equity fund that invests in compa\u00adnies focu\u00adsed on repla\u00adcing plas\u00adtics and other fossil fuel-based mate\u00adri\u00adals, higher value and more effi\u00adci\u00adent use of wood and agri\u00adcul\u00adtu\u00adral feedstock side streams, and increased use of these feedstocks in a broad range of inter\u00adme\u00addiate and end-use appli\u00adca\u00adti\u00adons. Through its invest\u00adments, the fund will help the forestry and bioba\u00adsed indus\u00adtries deve\u00adlop solu\u00adti\u00adons to miti\u00adgate climate change. UB FIGG is a signa\u00adtory to the Opera\u00adting Prin\u00adci\u00adples for Impact Manage\u00adment and reports on the envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal and climate impacts of its investments.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nSWEN Capi\u00adtal Part\u00adners is a leading player in respon\u00adsi\u00adble private wealth inves\u00adt\u00ading in Europe, with more than \u20ac7.7 billion* in assets under manage\u00adment, and offers a wide range of invest\u00adment programs for insti\u00adtu\u00adtio\u00adnal and private clients. Since 2012, the manage\u00adment company has inte\u00adgra\u00adted ESG crite\u00adria into all its asset manage\u00adment acti\u00advi\u00adties and has imple\u00admen\u00adted a climate stra\u00adtegy since 2017. In 2021, it streng\u00adthe\u00adned its actions in favor of more equi\u00adta\u00adble and sustainable growth by laun\u00adching Blue Ocean. SWEN Capi\u00adtal Part\u00adners is owned by OFI Invest Group, Cr\u00e9dit Mutuel Ark\u00e9a and part of their team. Since Janu\u00adary 2022, SWEN Capi\u00adtal Part\u00adners has been a co-part\u00adner in the NEC initia\u00adtive, which has deve\u00adlo\u00adped a metho\u00addo\u00adlogy that enables socio-econo\u00admic actors to measure their contri\u00adbu\u00adtion to envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal change in order to achieve a common goal: buil\u00adding a respon\u00adsi\u00adble and sustainable economy.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nThe seed inves\u00adtor High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds (HTGF) finan\u00adces tech\u00adno\u00adlogy start-ups with growth poten\u00adtial and has supported more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of the fourth fund, HTGF has around 1.4 billion euros under manage\u00adment. The team of expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced invest\u00adment mana\u00adgers and start-up experts supports the young compa\u00adnies with know-how, entre\u00adpre\u00adneu\u00adrial spirit and passion. The focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digi\u00adtal tech, indus\u00adtrial tech, life scien\u00adces, chemis\u00adtry and rela\u00adted busi\u00adness areas. To date, exter\u00adnal inves\u00adtors have inves\u00adted around EUR 5 billion in the HTGF port\u00adfo\u00adlio in more than 2,000 follow-on finan\u00adcing rounds. In addi\u00adtion, the fund has alre\u00adady successfully sold shares in more than 170 companies.
\nFund inves\u00adtors in the public-private part\u00adner\u00adship include the German Fede\u00adral Minis\u00adtry for Econo\u00admic Affairs and Climate Protec\u00adtion, KfW Capi\u00adtal, and 45 compa\u00adnies from a wide range of industries.
\nwww.htgf.de<\/p>\n