Air-Based Thermoplastics Company Secures $5.8M Funding

Berlin-Based Made of Air Secures €5 Million Seed Funding

Made of Air, a climate tech company headquartered in Berlin, has successfully completed a €5 million (~$5.8 million) seed funding round. The investment was spearheaded by TD Veen, a Norwegian family fund with a focus on sustainability.

Key Investors in the Round

Several prominent figures and organizations participated in the funding round. These include Patrick Pichette, former CFO of Google and current chairman of Twitter’s board, the EQT Foundation, Thomas Von Koch – co-founder and former CEO of EQT Group – Tuesday Capital, the co-founders of Pexip, and Olympic gold medalist skier, Aksel Lund Svindal.

Producing Carbon-Negative Thermoplastics from Wood Waste

As the company name suggests, Made of Air (MoA) specializes in the production of robust materials for diverse applications. Their process utilizes pyrolyzed wood waste to effectively sequester carbon for extended periods within a hardened, carbon-negative thermoplastic compound.

Specifically, the material is created from a combination of biochar and bioplastics.

Early Partnerships and Applications

MoA aims to provide a sustainable alternative to fossil-based thermoplastics, particularly for products with a long lifespan. They have established initial collaborative projects with Audi, producing façade panels for a dealership installation, and with H&M, developing sunglasses made from biomass-based materials, among other experimental designs.

Furthermore, a partnership exists with an unnamed furniture manufacturer based in the United States.

Feedstock and Carbon Sequestration Process

“Our primary feedstock is a biomass waste stream originating from forestry,” explains Allison Dring, founder and CEO. “We focus on sawdust and small wood chips generated during timber processing – typically for construction. This represents a waste stream at the end of the production chain.”

“Currently, this waste is often landfilled, gasified, or burned, all of which result in the release of stored CO2.”

Locking Carbon into Elemental Form

“During the pyrolysis process – the conversion into biochar – we transform the CO2 within the material into nearly elemental carbon. This effectively locks the carbon into a stable form, preventing its return to the atmosphere as a gas. Unlike some indirect air capture technologies, we don’t face the challenge of managing a gaseous byproduct.”

Material Shipments and Target Industries

Since its founding in 2016, the materials startup has delivered over 10 tons of materials to more than four distinct customers.

“These are strategic partners actively seeking to decarbonize their supply chains with our carbon-negative materials,” states Dring. “The industries with the most pressing emission reduction needs are the built environment, automotive/mobility, and consumer goods.”

Addressing Biomass Sustainability Concerns

While the biomass industry can raise environmental concerns – such as deforestation or competition with food crops – Dring emphasizes that they do not utilize biomass from trees that wouldn’t otherwise be harvested or from sources that could impact food production.

She also points out the flexibility of their process to utilize various biomass sources.

Regionalization and Diverse Feedstock Options

“Currently, we’re utilizing this waste stream, but we can adapt the process to other biomass waste streams. We’re exploring regionalization opportunities,” Dring explains to TechCrunch. “We don’t want to rely on a single source; this process can be applied to any plant material that has undergone photosynthesis.”

“However, we are committed to avoiding any disruption to the food supply. We prioritize non-food sources or abundant food waste, such as coffee bean husks, rice hulls, or tomato stems – high-carbon content waste streams that won’t create demand for monoculture agriculture.”

Interrupting the Carbon Cycle

“We essentially aim to interrupt the natural process of CO2 returning to the atmosphere as biomass decomposes,” Dring adds. “This is particularly effective with wood waste, as the forestry industry already stores carbon in wood products with lifespans of 30 to 50 years – an industry deserving of growth.”

Utilizing more timber in construction is presented as a potential method to replace high-CO2 materials like steel.

Material Properties and Applications

Dring states that MoA’s biomass-based thermoplastic is designed to possess the “typical fire resistant properties” expected of paneling materials in both interior and exterior building applications.

“This also extends to mechanical properties,” she notes. “In the built environment, we aim to replace other non-structural materials in addition to thermoplastics. Our materials generally offer equal or superior performance to their fossil thermoplastic counterparts, and are designed to be compatible with existing forming processes.”

Focus on Durability, Not Single-Use Products

The startup is not targeting fast-moving consumer goods or single-use items (like water bottles or coffee cup lids). Instead, the material is engineered for “durability” and intended as a replacement for “high emissions thermoplastics.”

Potential applications include furniture, interior/exterior paneling, car dashboards, and “closed-loop products” used within business supply chains.

Carbon Removal, Not Just Emission Reduction

“Our goal is carbon removal, rather than simply reducing emissions,” emphasizes Dring. “The compounds we create are not biodegradable; they are durable thermoplastics.”

“We view these as a method for storing carbon in products with long lifetimes. While biodegradables have a role in handling disposable products, manufacturers lack sustainable alternatives for durable goods – this is our focus.”

A New Value for Biomass Streams

“In our business model, we purchase the feedstock, setting a precedent for how biomass streams are valued. We anticipate a shift in resources from below ground to above ground, creating inherent value in these biomass streams, starting with what’s currently available.”

Pricing and End-of-Life Considerations

The cost of MoA’s material varies depending on the specific application, according to Dring.

“We differentiate pricing based on product application,” she explains, noting that they are currently in their first pilot production phase (“so our prices are still higher than they will be at scale”).

“Currently, we fall between the price of fossil plastics and bioplastics. As we scale, we aim to become competitive with fossil plastics.”

The end-of-life scenario for MoA’s material is also innovative. Unlike fossil-based thermoplastics, which contribute to lasting pollution, Dring suggests that their biomass-based material could be ground down and returned to the earth.

However, she acknowledges that industry practices and consumer behavior will ultimately determine the fate of the pyrolyzed wood waste.

A Truly Circular Material

Dring asserts that the startup’s product “is an entirely circular material.”

“As a thermoplastic, products can be collected, ground down, and reformed – behaving like other plastics. What sets our material apart is a pathway for returning it to the ground at the true end of life.”

“These products, after their use cycles, can be ground down and reintroduced to the soil, representing a significant step. We’ve extracted carbon from the ground 150 years ago, captured it through biomass, utilized it in a product, and are now returning it to the ground – completing the carbon loop. Few technologies can achieve this permanently.”

“With product lifetimes of 10 to 50 years, we have more time to address end-of-life solutions and avert the harmful effects of conventional plastics.”

The Need for a Collaborative Approach

Dring acknowledges that true circularity is “a long way off” and requires a collective effort.

“We still need to collaborate with industry to establish effective take-back programs, waste collection systems, and consumer behavior changes. It’s similar to the challenge of cleaning up ocean plastics – it requires a joined-up effort.”

“We have a technology capable of achieving this, but we need support from partners, policy changes, waste collection infrastructure, and consumer engagement to reformulate how we think about a product’s end-of-life. We’re making progress with circularity, and that’s a positive step.”

“We’re asking how we can de-cycle materials back into the earth. There are numerous challenges, but there’s real momentum to achieve this.”

Investor Perspectives

Kjell Skappel, CEO of TD Veen, stated: “We are really impressed by what Allison, Daniel and the rest of the Made of Air team has accomplished to date and are proud to have led the round. We are convinced that the demand for carbon negative materials will grow substantially in the foreseeable future as industries look to lower their carbon footprint and future proof their supply chains.”

Pichette added: “With my personal experience in the forestry industry, it is clear that Made of Air’s potential for impact at scale is immense given the volume of feedstock materials available.”

This report was updated to correct two details related to Made of Air’s investors; Thomas von Koch is the co-founder and former CEO of EQT Group, while we were originally told the EQT Group had invested; It is actually the EQT Foundation