London-based biomaterials startup Planet Smart has secured $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by General Inception and Vertical Venture Partners, with support from Innovate UK and the Undaunted Accelerator, as Vestbee was informed.
- Established in 2025 by Dr Gerald Marin and Maurice Rüttimann, Planet Smart develops biodegradable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) designed to replace fossil-based plastics in disposable hygiene products.
- The company’s flagship material, PlanetSorb™, is a bio-based polymer that biodegrades within six months without leaving microplastics. It achieves high absorbency, over 1 liter of liquid per gram, while maintaining performance under pressure, allowing manufacturers to create thinner, more efficient products.
- Planet Smart conducts laboratory R&D at its White City facility, where the team tests absorption, retention, and safety, ensuring the polymer meets industry standards.
- The material is intended for use in nappies, sanitary products, agriculture, wound care, food packaging, and industrial applications where high-capacity liquid absorption is required, offering a fully compostable alternative to conventional SAPs.
Details of the deal
- Planet Smart will use the fresh funding to scale its R&D and grow its technical team at its White City laboratory, accelerating development of PlanetSorb as it moves from intensive research into commercial readiness.
- The investment will also support the start of commercial trials with global hygiene manufacturers, helping the company validate its biodegradable superabsorbent polymer in real-world products and prepare for wider market adoption.
“We’ve shown that sustainability doesn’t have to mean sacrifice. Our material is greener, faster, and built to scale, and crucially, it simply disappears when its job is done. Every parent knows the guilt of throwing away nappies. The first thing we do to babies the moment they’re born is wrap them in plastic. I want to change that by creating smarter biomaterials that my daughter won’t have to clean up in thirty years’ time," claims Dr Gerald Marin, CEO and co-founder of Planet Smart.
