Naturbeads secures €4.1m in EU grant funding to construct its inaugural commercial manufacturing facility in Italy.
The Bath-based spinout is deploying the capital from the European Structural Fund to build a production plant in Puglia.
≈ £3.6M at €1 = £0.8676 on 23 Apr 2026
A Bath University spinout that manufactures biodegradable cellulose microspheres to replace harmful microplastics in various industrial applications.
Naturbeads has secured €4.1m in EU grant funding from the European Structural Fund to establish its first commercial manufacturing facility in Puglia, Italy. The latest capital injection builds upon a £7.8m Series A round that closed in November 2024 with backing from Eos Advisory, Progress Tech Transfer, and CDP Venture Capital.
The new facility in Puglia is scheduled to commence commercial output at a rate of 20 tonnes per year, with long-term projections targeting an expansion to 500 tonnes annually. This production scale aims to align the manufacturing costs of the company's cellulose microspheres with those of conventional industrial plastics.
The enterprise was spun out from the University of Bath in 2018 by Davide Mattia, the late Janet Scott, and Giovanna Laudisio. Its patented technology converts natural cellulose into uniform biodegradable beads suitable for cosmetics, paints, detergents, and biomedical uses.
Investor perspective
"Giovanna and her team are tackling one of the most urgent environmental challenges of our time, and we look forward to supporting Naturbeads through its next, exciting phase of commercialisation,"
Andrew Durkie
Partner, Eos Advisory
Use of funds
- 01Build out infrastructure
- 02Fund research and development
Categories
About the company
Naturbeads
Naturbeads produces biodegradable plant-based microspheres to replace microplastics across manufacturing sectors.