UK startup Interface Polymers has secured funding from Thai PTT Global Chemical units, while Indonesia’s civil society organisations have come together to a climate fund called The Nusantara Fund. Separately, a group of Asian investors are also teaming up to join a sustainability-focused coalition.
UK’s Interface Polymers bags funding from PTT Global units
Interface Polymers, a British startup that offers plastic processing technology, has raised $8 million in its Series A funding round from a couple of subsidiaries of PTT Global Chemical, one of Thailand’s largest petrochemical companies.
PTT Global’s Allnex, a German maker of coating resins, and its corporate venture capital unit GC Ventures invested in the round alongside global investors including Ingevity, Porus Laboratories, 24 Haymarket, and Evonik Venture Capital, which led the round, DealStreetAsia understands.
Founded in 2016, Interface Polymers was formerly spun out from the University of Warwick. The startup offers technology to simplify the processing of plastics and make the recycling process of mixed plastics more efficient and sustainable.
The Thai petrochemical giant acquired Allnex from Advent International in a 4 billion euros ($4.75 billion) deal in 2021.
Atlas Capital launches sustainability-focused initiative
A group of Asian investors including Bangkok-listed Gulf Energy and Hong Kong’s New World Development are joining a sustainability-focused coalition that pledges to promote investments of $1 billion in climate innovations and investments in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific by 2050.
SEA Climate Tech Coalition, established by Singapore-based angel syndicate Atlas Capital, has gathered over 300 people to join the movement, including venture capitalists, corporate investors, family offices, accelerators, incubators, and startups in the region.
“We are calling for all investors that are not interested in moonshots, also known as asteroid mining, but rather looking at inevitable markets that will materialize in Southeast Asia and APAC in the next 2-3 years,” it said in a release.
Nusantara Fund launch
Indonesia’s civil society organisations along with philanthropic organisations have launched a climate fund – The Nusantara Fund – as part of efforts to stop environmental damage by supporting rural communities.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) joined hands with the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) to launch the fund with an initial support of $3 million from international philanthropies Ford Foundation and Packard Foundation.
The fund plans to map indigenous territories, increase the protection and registration of indigenous people and local communities, and restore their lands. These steps will have a direct impact on at least 30 million people or about 11% of the Indonesian population. To ensure these targets, the fund has estimated that at least $300 million would be needed over 10 years.