Biomaterials company Ponda to launch crowdfunding campaign amid regenerative farming push

Ponda, a British biomaterials company known for its insulation material BioPuff, is set to initiate a new crowdfunding campaign to help “broaden the ownership of regenerative fashion innovation”.

Its launch comes as the Bristol-based firm looks to move beyond early traction towards broader commercial supply, with the funding intended to support manufacturing scale-up, operational build-out and go-to-market execution.

Speaking on this mission, Ponda co-founder and CEO, Julian Ellis-Brown, said that throughout the industry it is becoming increasingly necessary to test the scalability of sustainable materials in regards to production and supply chain application.

Ponda’s BioPuff product is designed to address this need. The insulation is made from bulrush (or Typha), a wetland plant cultivated through paludiculture, a regenerative farming practice utilising rewetted peatlands and other wet landscapes.

Its creation looks to contribute to both wetland restoration, particularly degraded wet landscapes, and alternative material solutions that can replace fossil-based and animal-derived materials.

Ponda’s methods also tackle concerns over emissions released by drained wetlands, which despite only covering 3 percent of the world’s land surface, store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined, the company said.

When drained, these areas release 1.9 gigatonnes of CO2 a year, almost double fashion’s total emissions, prompting solutions to return them to use.

BioPuff is therefore being developed as a commercially viable alternative, and has already been applied by brands like Stella McCartney, Ahluwalia, and Berghaus, while recognised partners include H&M Foundation and Parley for the Oceans.

Ponda’s current total funding stands at 6.6 million dollars, with its latest seed round, closed in November, drawing in 2.4 million dollars, with Faber and Counteract co-leading the round.

While Ellis-Brown said these partners have indeed helped validate the wider relevance of Ponda, the company is now moving into its next stage of growth, in which there is an “opportunity to prove that regenerative material systems can be commercially viable, operationally credible and genuinely useful for brands”.