Technological watch
Kickstart: Big funding boost for bioplastics
One of the questions around bioplastics has been how quickly it could be a viable alternative in the market to traditional fossil fuel-based plastics.
My colleague Frank Esposito reported this week on a positive sign for that — PHA maker Danimer Scientific going public, in a merger with an existing public company created to take others to stock markets.
The Bainbridge, Ga.-based firm announced it will list on the New York Stock Exchange later this year or early 2021. As part of the deal, Danimer is getting $210 million from a group of investors, including private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
The company's CEO told us that "Our big challenge is how quickly we can put capacity on. … Right now, we can sell everything we can make."
Danimer makes polyhydroxyalkanoate, a bioplastic that uses canola oil as its primary feedstock.
There seems to be a lot of interest in PHA. The Los Angeles Times, for example, reported Oct. 6 on a California startup, Cove, that's trying to commercialize bottled water packaged in PHA containers.
The startup reportedly has financial backing from actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Salesforce Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff and former News Corp. executive James Murdoch, among others.
My colleague Frank Esposito reported this week on a positive sign for that — PHA maker Danimer Scientific going public, in a merger with an existing public company created to take others to stock markets.
The Bainbridge, Ga.-based firm announced it will list on the New York Stock Exchange later this year or early 2021. As part of the deal, Danimer is getting $210 million from a group of investors, including private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
The company's CEO told us that "Our big challenge is how quickly we can put capacity on. … Right now, we can sell everything we can make."
Danimer makes polyhydroxyalkanoate, a bioplastic that uses canola oil as its primary feedstock.
There seems to be a lot of interest in PHA. The Los Angeles Times, for example, reported Oct. 6 on a California startup, Cove, that's trying to commercialize bottled water packaged in PHA containers.
The startup reportedly has financial backing from actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Salesforce Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff and former News Corp. executive James Murdoch, among others.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870292.
