Unlocking value from pulp and paper side streams

Each year, the global pulp and paper industry generates around 100 million tonnes of lignin in the form of Black Liquor, a by-product typically burned for energy recovery. Nova Biochem’s patented supercritical water process extracts high-value aromatic chemical building blocks, such as vanillin or chemicals similar to BTX, from this underutilised stream.

These bio-based chemicals are identical to the fossil-based equivalents used to make products like PET plastics, coatings, adhesives, and resins, but crucially, they are carbon-negative and do not rely on petroleum. By integrating with existing pulp and paper infrastructure, Nova’s technology offers a scalable pathway to decarbonise the chemicals and materials sectors, with potential to save up to a gigaton of CO₂-equivalent emissions.

Nova’s scalable approach to circular chemistry

Bio-based aromatic chemicals are currently unavailable at commercial scale or price parity with fossil-based ones, despite being essential components in everyday materials from plastics and coatings to adhesives and resins. Nova’s process is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing industrial infrastructure, creating a fast, cost-efficient route to scale. By harnessing the clean chemistry of water, the company aims to lead the global transition away from fossil-based chemicals and enable deep decarbonisation across value chains.

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Strong consortium of investors

The Seed round was closed with investment from a team of investors each bringing strategic, commercial and geographical benefits to the company. Led by Singapore-based Circulate Capital, the round also brought strategic investment from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), as well as UK-based impact investors Archipelago Ventures and the Circular Plastics Accelerator, an investment strategy built by climate NGO WRAP and managed by Archipelago Ventures. Pre-Seed investors TSP Ventures, a UK-based early-stage environmental technology investor, followed their investment having provided Nova's pre-seed funding in late 2023, providing further validation of the approach.

This investment is further reinforced by a €7.5M EU grant from CBE JU to accelerate product development in speciality chemicals, sustainable aviation fuel components, rubber components and coatings with strong industry support from multibillion companies like Solvay/Syensqo, UPM, Hansen & Rosenthal and Soprema.

‍Wolfgang Hafenmayer, Founding Partner of Circulate Capital, said, “Bio-based PET remains unavailable at commercial scale despite strong demand from industry. Nova’s technology has the dual potential for significant environmental impact and strong commercial returns, offering lower-carbon, renewable feedstocks that can help decarbonise the packaging and pulp and paper sectors while meeting real market demand.”

Lucy Mortimer, Founding Partner at Archipelago Ventures, said, “Nova Biochem offers an exciting pathway to decarbonisation of deeply embedded scope 3 emissions, at scale, whilst using a by-product of an existing sector which is itself seeking solutions to remove barriers to scale. We’re excited about the opportunities it offers, not least of which is the ability to geo-locate manufacturing of bio-based BTX and support resilience of regional and local supply chains.”

Pete Hodgson, Director, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said, “Our belief in innovation – and its role in delivering both sustainable progress and performance – is the driving force behind this investment. We’re delighted to welcome Alex and the team at Nova Biochem as our latest Ventures partners.”

Mike Doswell, Chief Investment Officer of TSP Ventures, said: "We are delighted to be following our pre-seed investment into Nova at this incredibly exciting phase of the company's development. Since backing Alex, Emre, and Sergey at a very early stage, the rate of technical and commercial progress has been truly impressive. Now, with this funding round secured, the European grant-funded project and a fantastic investor-base, the pathway to commercialisation and deployment of this transformative technology is clear".