EUR 2.42 million for Traceless from European Innovation Council

21 October 2021

Founders and winners of Future Hamburg Award 2021 receive grant for compostable plastic substitute - fund to go towards demonstration plant

The Hamburg-based Traceless Materials start-up has received EUR 2.42 million in funds from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The founders, Dr. Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, will put the fresh capital towards a new pilot plant to scale-up their compostable alternative made from biomass. Around 359 million metric tons of plastic were produced annually worldwide in 2018 compared to merely 1.5 million metric tons 70 years ago. The trend is rising and most plastic waste ends up in the environment, polluting habitats and oceans.

Bau einer ersten Produktionsanlage und Markteintritt geplant

Laut Bewertungsauschuss des Europäischen Innovationsrats stelle die von Traceless Materials entwickelte Plastikalternative „einen echten Durchbruch im Bereich der Kunststoffmaterialien dar, da sie einen zirkulären und nachhaltigen Ansatz auf Grundlage von landwirtschaftlichen Reststoffen, innovativen Umwandlungsschritten und finalen Materialeigenschaften kombiniert.“ Dieser gehe über den derzeitigen Stand der Technik hinaus und biete eine vollständig biologisch abbaubare Lösung für viele Sektoren. Traceless Materials sei eines von 65 Unternehmen, die durch den EIC Accelerator gefördert werden. Insgesamt hätten 4.000 Unternehmen ihre Ideen eingereicht.

Den nächsten Schritt haben die Gründerinnen bereits fest im Blick: „Die Förderung ermöglicht es uns, unsere Entwicklung noch weiter zu beschleunigen und Traceless schnell auf den Markt zu bringen – damit wir unseren Beitrag zur Lösung der globalen Plastikverschmutzung leisten können“, so Dr. Anne Lamp, CEO und Erfinderin der Traceless-Technologie. Hierfür ist der Bau einer ersten Produktionsanlage geplant.

Traceless Materials win Future Hamburg Award 2021

The start-up won has already won over companies such as Otto GmbH & Co KG with whom it is now working on a prototype for biodegradable shipping packaging. Traceless had secured seed investment worth millions in May from the impact investor, Planet A, among other venture capital investors. Founded in September 2020, the founders won second prize at this year's Future Hamburg Award in honour of sustainable innovations in mobility, logistics and hydrogen.
sb/pb

Sources and further information

European Innovation Council

Launched in March 2021 as part of the Horizon Europe scheme, the European Innovation Council (EIC) supports disruptive innovations throughout their lifecycle, from early-stage research, proof of concept, and technology transfer to funding and scaling-up start-ups and SMEs. In 2021, approximately EUR 1.1 billion is available for the EIC Accelerator. It provides both grants of up to EUR 2.5 million and equity capital of up to EUR 15 million to bring innovations to market maturity. The companies selected by the EIC receive coaching, mentoring and access to investors and companies.