“Positive and Energised” – a long-running vision to make plastics from cow’s milk gets new funding

Biomaterials startup Lactips has closed a €16m funding round, backed by the French public investment bank Bpifrance and the Blue Ocean Fund run by Paris-based SWEN Capital Partners. The company, which manufactures plastic alternatives from animal proteins, will use the funding to expand in France and enter foreign markets.

"Securing this funding marks a pivotal moment for us, validating the hard work and commitment of our entire team,” Bertrand Dupeyroux, VP Sales & Marketing, told Impact Loop. "It has given us a renewed sense of purpose and momentum to accelerate our mission of creating sustainable solutions."

He described the mood at the company at the moment as positive and energised.

Materials from cow milk

Animal protein, specifically casein derived from cow milk, has been used in various materials for over a century. In the early 2000s, chemist Frédéric Prochazka began looking into how casein could be used as a plastic alternative.

In 2014, he along with entrepreneurs Marie-Hélène Gramatikoff and Fabrice Plasson took what he developed and founded Lactips (which, if you haven’t noticed, is an anagram of plastic). Gramatikoff has since moved on, replaced as CEO by Alexis von Tschammer, as has Plasson, while Prochazka continues as scientific director.

It has given us a renewed sense of purpose and momentum

A long-standing challenge

Plastic is of course a heavily scrutinised part of the climate crisis, contributing to climate degradation at various points in its lifecycle. Much energy has been put into finding alternatives to plastic that are less emissions-heavy to produce, more biodegradable and, crucially, durable enough for everyday and industrial use. Many companies have come and gone claiming to have found the solution, but their products have either been found lacking or not managed to see widespread adoption.

Lactips is backing products like its flagship CareTips polymer as that solution, touting its high biodegradability and adaptability to existing plastics production processes. The company says its technology can be used for both single-use and durable packaging solutions, among others.

Lactips had already raised €20m in several funding rounds. They have a 2,500 m² production site in France’s Loire department, and are working to increase capacity to produce up to 10,000 tonnes of their plastics alternatives. It’s been a long road, says Dupeyroux. "This process has involved numerous steps, from fundamental research to product development, including testing and certification phases."

Having ramped up its industrial production capability over the last couple of years, the company now is hoping to push further into European, Japanese and US markets.

"Lactips now ticks all the boxes to establish itself as the leader in alternatives to plastics, for the well-being of oceans, marine ecosystems, and, by extension, the planet as a whole," wrote Frédéric Ventre at Avolta Partners, who advised Lactips in this funding round.