Startup Receives $6.2 Million to Solve Plastic Pollution In the Beauty Industry
June 24, 2022
Beauty has a big problem with plastic pollution. In fact, every year, the industry produces 120 billion units of packaging, and most of that doesn’t get recycled. But a new startup has a solution.
Shellworks, a biotech startup, is creating truly sustainable and compostable alternatives to plastic packaging, and to prove it can scale its unique plastic waste solution, it just raised $6.2 million in funding.
According to Shellworks, it can create packaging that looks and functions just like plastic but is entirely compostable. It has even created Lippy, the first-ever lipstick packaging that consumers can compost at home.
Its material arsenal includes Vivomer, which it created using microorganisms from marine and soil environments. But the most unique and game-changing part is that, when the packaging’s life comes to an end, the microbes consume Vivomer as a food source.
Shellworks has also produced petroleum-free natural dyes and compostable seals.
According to CEO Insiya Jafferjee, the idea is to “build a new standard of packaging” so that companies don’t have to compromise on the planet or performance of their products.
The startup has already worked with Bybi Beauty and Liha Beauty. The new funding round was led by LocalGlobe, a London-based venture capital firm.
Find out more about Shellworks and its innovation here.
