Seprify, a Switzerland-based bio-materials company developing cellulose-based functional ingredients for industrial applications, announced that it has raised €13.4 million in Series A funding. The round included participation from Inter IKEA Group, Una Terra Early Growth Fund, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Kickfund, and other investors focused on the circular economy and industrial scale-up.
The company said the funding will support the transition of its cellulose platform from pilot validation into procurement-ready industrial supply. This move allows manufacturers to shift from product trials to repeatable sourcing and long-term commercial agreements as demand grows for bio-based alternatives to high-emission materials such as titanium dioxide.
Seprify noted that its technology has been validated at Technology Readiness Levels 7 through 9 through collaborations with industry partners. The company is currently working with more than 100 customer organizations across sectors, including cosmetics and personal care, food and pet food, and coatings, with activities ranging from product evaluations to early commercial supply.
With the new capital, Seprify plans to scale commercial production to hundreds of tonnes per year through established manufacturing partners. The company also intends to expand commercial rollout across priority markets while advancing engineering work for future industrial-scale capacity.
Seprify’s cellulose platform combines process know-how, application expertise, and intellectual property spanning production processes, product design, and end-use applications. Its flagship product grades include SilvaLuma, a cellulose-based SPF booster for cosmetics and personal care products, and SilvaAlba, a food-grade whitening solution designed as a scalable alternative to titanium dioxide.
KEY QUOTES:
“This funding enables us to focus on execution and scale. Our immediate priority is delivering consistent quality and reliable supply, meeting the operational standards large industrial customers require. In the near term, that means supporting cosmetics and personal care, including suncare, as well as food and pet food. We are also scaling for higher-volume applications such as coatings, inks and printed electronics, reflecting the broader potential of our cellulose platform.”
Lukas Schertel, Co-founder & CEO of Seprify
“At IKEA, we look for solutions that can realistically replace high-impact incumbent materials while fitting into existing manufacturing and recycling systems. Seprify’s cellulose platform has reached a level of maturity that makes this a credible path to explore, not only for specific applications such as coatings and surface finishes, but as a scalable materials platform with the consistency and operational readiness required for industrial use. We’re looking forward to this exploratory project.”
Robert Carleke, Innovation Ventures Manager at Inter IKEA Group
