Paques Biomaterials announced it has raised €14 million in its latest funding round. Investors in the Dutch bioplastics company include the Dutch Investment Agency (Invest-NL) and the investment and development company for the Northern Netherlands (NOM).
Paques Biomaterials produces polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), called Caleyda, using organic waste streams as feedstock. The company will use the raised capital to build a Caleyda Extraction Facility in Emmen, a town in the providence of Drenthe in the northeastern Netherlands. Production is expected to begin in 2026, with sales scheduled for 2027.
The bioplastics manufacturer has been running a demonstration plant in Dordrecht since 2022, in collaboration with five Dutch water boards and waste and energy company HVC. The company also started several collaborations in 2023, for example with circular side stream company Looop, to further improve its technology.
Depending on the success of the future plant in Dordrecht, Paques Biomaterials plans to build a full-scale extraction plant with a capacity of 6,000 tonnes per year by 2028. It said one of its goals is to have a ‘significant market share’ of the 1 million tonnes the PHA market is estimated to reach by 2028.
“It’s good to see the confidence investors have in our technology,” said Joost Paques, co-founder and CEO of Paques Biomaterials. “They give us the opportunity to scale up and take the next step in creating a new, circular chain where we produce a natural alternative to plastic from organic side streams. This funding round still allows new investors who want to invest in a future with sustainable materials to step in.”
PHAs are a family of biopolyesters produced in nature by numerous microorganisms. They are synthesized directly via fermentation of a carbon substrate inside microorganisms and stored in the form of water insoluble granules as energy and carbon reserves inside their cells. PHAs are synthesised by microbes in nutrient-deficient conditions. They are separated from the microbes with the help of a solvent; the solvent is then removed, the harvested PHA is washed, dried, and pelletised through an extruder.