Cambridge university spin-out Evoralis secures 2.5 million dollar funding

Evoralis, a company specialising in the development of plastic-depolymerising enzymes, has announced the closure of a 2.5 million pound seed funding round, which will allow it to build on its mission of transforming “the recycling landscape for textiles and other plastics”.

The firm, which began as a spin-out of the University of Cambridge Hollfelder Lab, utilises a screening platform based on microfluidics to “refine enzymes capable of breaking down complex plastics into their constituent building blocks”, a press release read.

The platform was described by Evoralis as a “game-changer in the pursuit of an economically viable circular economy for textiles and plastics”. It hopes to address the currently challenging landscape of recycling mixed and blended fibres, offering a “viable solution for recycling over 80 percent of textiles”.

The platform has already garnered attention from fashion retailers who have contacted Evoralis in regards to the development of enzymes specifically for recycling nylon and polyurethane, two difficult-to-recycle synthetic polymers.

With this latest funding round, Evoralis has secured further support from lead investor LIFTT S.p.A., as well as co-investments from Cambridge Enterprise Ventures and Parkwalk Advisors, Backbone Ventures, Circular Plastics Accelerator and Archipelago Ventures.

CEO of Evoralis, Daniel Kaute, said on the news: "This funding will enable us to further develop our enzyme technology, making it possible to recycle textiles and plastics that were previously deemed unrecyclable. Our vision is to create a world where waste is a resource, and this investment brings us closer to making that vision a reality."