Start-up RWDC Industries (Singapore and Athens, Georgia / USA; www.rwdc-industries.com), which has dedicated itself to finding innovative and cost-effective biopolymer solutions to replace single-use plastics, has completed a USD 133m two-stage series B funding round. The intake will be used to expand its global production capacity for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) with a new facility in Athens, Georgia, as well as funding R&D activities. The company did not disclose capacity or cost of the new plant, an idled 1960s facility that is being repurposed. Around 200 workers will be employed.

RWDC’s PHA, produced primarily from used cooking oil, is certified by inspection agency TÜV Austria (Vienna; www.tuv.at/en). Being biodegradable, the material can substitute conventional plastics in a range of single-use consumer goods, from straws to utensils to cups and plates to lids, the company noted, while adding that its expansion comes at a time of rising demand for sustainable plastics and circular economy mandate demands from state, local and federal governments. In 2018, RWDC’s proposal to use PHA as a start towards replacing disposable plastics won the inaugural “Liveability Challenge” presented by Singapore’s Temasek Foundation.

The investment funding was co-led by global venture capital firm Vickers Venture Partners and energy company Flint Hills, along with the pension funds of Swiss retail giant Coop and International SA (linked to Switzerland’s Interogo Holding), in addition to existing investors Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust (the pension fund of Eversource Energy) and WI Harper Group (US-Asia cross-border venture capital investing).