This is a scale-up financing, not a science project, because Shellworks is using fresh capital to build manufacturing capacity for a material already in commercial use.
UK-based Shellworks has raised EUR 13.89 million in a funding round led by Alter Equity, with participation from JamJar, Founder Collective, LocalGlobe, Third Sphere and Nat Friedman, among others. The company said the financing will support global manufacturing capabilities and increased production of Vivomer, its biopolymer positioned as a home-compostable alternative to plastic packaging.
What Shellworks is selling
Shellworks develops Vivomer, a biopolymer produced by fermented microbes using waste feedstocks such as used cooking oil. The pitch is straightforward: behave like conventional plastic during use, then break down enzymatically without leaving microplastics.
The company says Vivomer is certified for home composting and can biodegrade in personal or industrial compost within about a year. It is also designed to break down in soil or landfill conditions at rates comparable to cellulose, a claim that speaks directly to end-of-life outcomes beyond idealised recycling streams.
Shellworks runs an in-house compost system at its headquarters, using team food waste to test and control breakdown in real-world home composting conditions. That operational detail matters because “compostable” claims have drawn scrutiny when materials only degrade under narrow industrial conditions.
Commercial pull, starting with beauty
Shellworks has already replaced millions of plastic units with Vivomer, and its customer list includes brands such as Unilever’s Wild, Hair by Sam McKnight, Wildsmith, Sonsie, and Phil’s at Whole Foods. The material has also been used in retail channels including Tesco and in the US at Target.
Beauty and personal care is a logical early market. Packaging in the category often relies on small items and multi-material combinations that are technically recyclable but rarely recycled in practice. That makes it fertile ground for compostable alternatives, especially where brands have public sustainability commitments but limited packaging options that perform like plastic.
Vivomer is positioned to cover both rigid and flexible formats, aiming to match plastic’s performance while providing a different end-of-life pathway.
Why this round fits the current climate-tech playbook
The “with-trend” signal here is the shift from novelty materials to manufacturing execution. Investors are increasingly backing climate-tech companies that can demonstrate three things: performance parity with incumbents, evidence of real customers, and a credible route to scaled production.
Shellworks is leaning into that playbook. The company has framed the round around scaling capacity and expanding mass-market partnerships, including growth across the US and Europe. It has also argued that cost competitiveness is achievable versus materials such as aluminium, glass and paper, a key line in a market where sustainability premiums are being challenged by procurement teams.
Execution risks to watch
The main risk is industrialisation. Scaling a biomaterial from early commercial runs to global manufacturing brings process-control challenges, capex demands and quality consistency requirements that packaging buyers will not compromise on.
A second risk sits in the end-of-life promise. Even with home-compostable certification, market adoption depends on clear consumer instructions and confidence that the material behaves as claimed across varied real-world conditions. Shellworks’ emphasis on testing in home-compost-like environments suggests it understands that credibility is as important as chemistry.
For now, the funding gives Shellworks runway to turn Vivomer from a product-led story into a supply-led one. If it can scale manufacturing while holding performance and cost, it will be well positioned as brands look for practical replacements for packaging that recycling systems still fail to handle.