The investment will enable rapid commercialisation growth as the business adapts to the urgent demands of the global market and changes to Benefit Corporation
Cruz Foam has secured an $18m Series A funding round led by Helena. (Credit: Rupert Kittinger-Sereinig from Pixabay)
Circular materials company Cruz Foam has secured $18m in a Series A funding round led by the US-based problem-solving group Helena.
The funding round also saw the participation of One Small Planet, Regeneration.VC, At One Ventures, and SoundWaves.
Cruz Foam is partnering with established firms to scale the manufacturing of circular materials, accelerating the shift of the world’s supply chains away from hazardous single-use materials for protective packaging and other uses.
Founded in 2017, the firm aims to replace single-use, petroleum-based plastics.
It develops alternatives for EPS and EPE and has expanded into new areas like cold chain and primary packaging for consumer packaged goods.
Helena founder Henry Elkus said: “Petroleum-based products, specifically those designed for single-use, pose one of the greatest threats to our planet.
“Through our work and investment with partners like Cruz Foam, we’re aiming to tackle the issue in a wholly innovative way to sustain meaningful change in the packaging space.”
Matthew Saunders from Helena, Will Peterffy from One Small Planet, and an independent director will join existing Cruz Foam board members CEO and co-founder, John Felts, and executive chairman and COO Toby Corey.
Recently, the firm added to the management team bringing on Ted Witt as vice president of commercial operations and Carlo Woods as senior vice president of finance.
Government legislation and requests for quick fixes from NGOs and consumers increased the sense of pressure for businesses to switch to more sustainable materials, Cruz Foam said.
Made from entirely naturally occurring food waste components, Cruz Foam is a proactive solution that quickens the pace of change by intentionally keeping new plastic out of the trash stream.
It was created to offer protection and performance without having a negative influence on the environment.
The company also declared that it has changed from a for-profit corporation to a Benefit Corporation, formalising its long-standing commitment to preserving the environment.
In November last year, Cruz Foam received $2.5m in a seed funding round to support the transition towards circular packaging solutions.