Basel – The cleantech company KUORI GmbH develops alternative materials for conventional plastics. The aim is to reduce the accumulation of microplastics through abrasion. The start-up company has been able to close financing in the amount of 2.3 million euros since its founding in spring 2022.
According to a recent media release, cleantech startup KUORI is developing innovative materials from food waste, such as banana and nutshells. The first results of the developments are elastic, biologically based and biodegradable materials for shoe soles. Shoe soles constantly rub off microplastics as you walk. “We want to use our bio-based, biodegradable and resilient materials where they will provide the greatest environmental benefit,” KUORI founder and CEO Sarah Harbarth is quoted as saying. “Unlike conventional plastics, which take hundreds of years to degrade in nature, our materials are industrially compostable.”
Founded in 2022, the company has closed €2.3 million in financing since its launch last March. Investors include the European Union’s Eurostar program, Innosuisse, the Alternative Bank Switzerland (ABS) Innovation Fund, the Gebert Rüf Foundation and private investors.
With the new financing, KUORI has several ambitious goals in mind, including the rapid market launch of the novel materials in the first half of this year, as well as the search for competent industrial partners and the expansion of the market chain .eb
