Sustainable materials startups are contributing to incorporating sustainability in industries from textile to packaging and construction to healthcare. The startups are using materials from industrial waste, agro waste, domestic waste, and more to create innovative products.
These products contribute minimally to carbon dioxide and reduce waste production by being biodegradable. Further, researchers and industrialists are using technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to discover more materials that can replace harmful, carbon-positive, and non-biodegradable materials.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights Emerging Sustainable Materials Startups to Watch
Through the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 5M+ startups, 20K+ technology trends plus 150M+ patents, news articles & market reports, we identified the top sustainable materials startups.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the sustainable materials startups you should watch in 2025 as well as the geo-distribution of the top sustainable materials startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. The top 5 Startup Hubs for sustainable materials are London, New York City, Bangalore, Berlin, and Mumbai.
Meet Emerging Sustainable Materials Startups to Watch in 2025
We hand-picked startups to showcase in this report by filtering for their technology, founding year, location, funding, and other metrics. These sustainable materials startups work on solutions ranging from sustainable packaging and sustainable construction material to mycelium-based biopolymers to sustainable binding agents.
- Ravel – Circular Economy Solution for Textile Waste
- Shift Materials – LFP/LMFP Cathode Active Materials for Energy Storage
- Ecoforge – Sustainable Binding Agent
- Altrove – Sustainable Alternative to Critical Material
- Alstonia Bio – Synthetic Biology Platform
- Cocoon – Low-Carbon Construction Materials
- Maicelium Biomaterials – Mycelium-based Biopolymer
- Seacork Studio – Biodegradable Acoustic Panels
- Va-Nano – Crystalline Nanocellulose for Packaging Industry
- SymbioMatter – Sustainable Alternative for Packaging Inserts
1. Ravel
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Solution: Circular Solution for Textile Waste
Ravel manufactures textile-derived rPET pellets, which are transformed back into clothing. The startup uses its proprietary energy-efficient, closed-loop process to change blended material textile waste back into mono-material feedstocks.
It separates and isolates parts of contaminants and dyes in the process and does not produce any extra waste or byproducts. The in-house intellectual property (IP) further maintains the integrity and purifies the underlying base fibers.
2. Shift Materials
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Oslo, Norway
- Solution: LFP/LMFP Cathode Active Materials for Energy Storage
Shift Materials builds cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries using lithium iron phosphate (LFP). It utilizes a proprietary process to manufacture cost-efficient LFP cathode materials, which feature high thermal stability, safety, and long cycle life, and is cost-efficient.
The cathode material is also free from metals like Nickel and Cobalt. It addresses the challenge of rising demand for electric vehicles, which rely on batteries. Apart from electric mobility, the cathode material is suitable for various energy storage systems, the telecommunication sector, and niche consumer electronics applications.
3. EcoForge
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
- Solution: Sustainable Binding Agent
EcoForge offers a renewable, plant-based, and ecologically safe binding agent that is fit for building interior products, furniture, and do-it-yourself (DIY) crafts. It uses the AI4Science method by Caltech, which combines AI, machine learning, high throughput screening (HTS), computational chemistry, and natural materials.
This process initiates changes at the molecular level of the binding agent. The precise experiment at the molecular level results in specific polymer linking designs which are strong and durable.
EcoForge further fine-tunes these polar interactions to ensure the binders are cohesive, stable, and capable of withstanding harsh conditions. The production process does not leave any waste except water. It does not contain volatile organic compounds (VOC), per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), formaldehyde, isocyanate, and red-list materials.
4. Altrove
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Paris, France
- Solution: Sustainable Alternative to Critical Material
Altrove produces sustainable alternatives to non-renewable critical materials. Using a proprietary AI model and self-learning technology, the startup analyzes multiple data points and predicts the best synthesis method for producing the alternatives.
The automated lab creates multiple iterations until it is fine-tuned and the closest to the actual critical material. Altrove also runs quality checks on these alternatives.
5. Alstonia Bio
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Kochi, India
- Solution: Synthetic Biology Platform
Alstonia Bio develops a platform for manufacturing synthetic biology-based sustainable materials. The platform uses AI and Synbio to create products and address issues like climate change, food insecurity, and diseases.
Synthetic biologists use the platform to create drugs and therapies with minimal side effects. It also improves antibody-based treatments by engineering antibodies to be more specific to their targets.
Further, synthetic biologists are utilizing the platform for designing and manufacturing biomaterial-based food products that replace conventional fossil fuel-based products and plastics.
Apart from these sectors, the synthetic biology platform is useful for industries like healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and energy. Alstonia Bio is also building a bio-foundry to develop sustainable solutions.
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6. Cocoon
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Solution: Low-Carbon Construction Materials
Cocoon manufactures low-carbon construction materials for builders. The startup gathers molten slug from the steel industry and utilizes water among other components to supplement cementitious material, used in the cement industry.
The production process leaves a low carbon footprint and permanently stores the released carbon dioxide. It is scalable and addresses the challenge of managing the large amount of waste produced in the cement and steel industry.
7. Maicelium Biomaterials
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Solution: Mycelium-based Biopolymer
Maicelium Biomaterials builds mycelium-based biomaterials. The startup turns industrial waste into biopolymers by using the mycelium metabolic process to cultivate them. The resultant products are high-value, cost-effective, biodegradable, and carbon-negative.
They are also multifunctional and useful for industries like cosmetics, food, packaging, personal care, and water treatment to use as an alternative to petroleum-based materials.
8. Seacork Studio
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Vancouver, Canada
- Solution: Biodegradable Acoustic Panels
Seacork Studio develops acoustic panels, Seacork from seaweed. The panels are compostable, carbon-negative, and absorb sound. The startup uses locally sourced seaweed to build its proprietary material. Once the Seacork breaks, the broken parts are used to build a new panel.
As the construction industry generates significant carbon dioxide, Seacork plays an important role in reducing the carbon footprint.
9. Va-Nano
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Queretaro, Mexico
- Solution: Crystalline Nanocellulose for Packaging Industry
Va-Nano manufactures crystalline nanocellulose for the packaging industry using agricultural waste, specifically from banana production. Using sustainable biotechnology, the startup turns the waste into an eco-friendly solution. The resultant product is a biodegradable alternative to synthetic materials and plastic used in the packaging industry.
10. SymbioMatter
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
- Solution: Sustainable Alternative for Packaging Inserts
SymbioMatter designs SymbioFoam, a sustainable alternative to plastic packing. It addresses the challenge of toxic gas during production, microplastics generated after discarding the packing, and the difficulty in recycling them.
The startup uses residual products to create sustainable packing through a biotechnology process. The packings are customizable by thickness, color, and finishing. They are additionally lightweight, compostable, flexible, conductive, and scalable.
Discover All Emerging Materials Startups
This overview highlights just a few sustainable materials solutions from 2540+ new companies currently covered by the Discovery Platform. To explore them all, book a personalized demo or download our free Materials Innovation Report for a quick overview.
