Green Island, NY, November 5, 2013 -
Ecovative Design LLC, a Green Island, New York-based company, announced today that it has raised over $14 million in equity financing from new and existing investors, including existing investors the DOEN Foundation and 3M Company. Terms were not disclosed.
Ecovative uses its patent protected mycelium-based technology to grow 100% home-compostable, cost and performance competitive composites that replace plastic foams currently used in products such as protective packaging, automotive components, building and construction materials, shoes, and floral foam, among other applications. In addition, Ecovative has leveraged its mycelium expertise to develop a high performing, cost competitive and lighter weight engineered wood replacement that eliminates the need for expensive and toxic glues currently used in existing engineered wood products.
“Ecovative has taken a disruptive concept for growing cost effective bio-materials and developed an award-winning product, Mushroom® Packaging,” said Eben Bayer, CEO and Co-Founder of Ecovative. “As we continue to scale this technology in the U.S. with our licensing partner Sealed Air, we look forward to opening our material platform to multiple new markets, including building materials, automotive components, and structural cores. Ecovative is extremely proud of our investors, who are supporting our vision and represent a unique shareholder mix of both mission and profit oriented stakeholders.”
Ecovative, together with Sealed Air Corporation, recently announced the opening of a new facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to support the growth of its Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging business in North America. Ecovative intends to launch additional protective packaging facilities in Europe and Asia and is actively seeking strategic partners .
About Ecovative Founded in 2007, Ecovative is a materials science company developing a new class of home-compostable biomaterials based on mycelium, an organism akin to a living polymer. Ecovative’s high-performance products serve as environmentally responsible alternatives to traditional foam packaging, insulation, and other plastic-based materials. Ecovative was incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Ecovative has been recognized with numerous international awards for sustainability and “green” technologies, and was named a Tech Pioneer at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as well as the 2013 winner of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. In addition to capital financing, the growth of Ecovative’s materials science technology has included grants, prizes, and support from key partners including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. For more information, visit www.ecovativedesign.com and follow @ecovative on Twitter.
