If you had been strolling around Times Square in New York earlier this week, you might have spotted a crowd of young men and women laughing with joy below the Nasdaq Tower skyscraper.
Above them on the huge neon billboards flashed the news that Notpla has secured $25 million in its latest funding round. Among those jumping up and down were Notpla’s co-chief executive, Pierre Paslier, his co-CEO and co-founder, Rodrigo Garcia, the vice-provost and Professor of materials at Imperial College, London, Mary Ryan, along with their colleagues.
They were celebrating the news that their British-based company, Notpla – which has developed a seaweed-based biodegradable alternative to plastic – has raised enough new money so that they can expand operations into the US, with the aim of replacing 100 million single-use plastic items over the next two years.
You may have heard of Notpla. As a start-up, it won a £1 million prize in the Prince of Wales’ 2022 Earthshot competition, and caused something of a stir when its edible capsules containing Lucozade were given out in the 2019 London Marathon to runners in order to reduce plastic waste.
