Kelpi wins Rising Star industry award

Pioneering biotech startup Kelpi has today won the Rising Star award for sustainable technology.

The Sustainable Technologies Business Acceleration Hub, part of the Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies, named Kelpi the winner of its Rising Star award for early stage businesses in the Southwest.

The company, founded by Bath University professor Chris Chuck and entrepreneurs Neil Morris and Murray Kenneth, is working on a new generation of home-compostable, marine-safe, bioplastic packaging made from seaweed.  

The three co-founders were thrilled to be given the industry award just eight months after starting the business: “Biopolymer composites made from seaweed present a fantastic opportunity to replace single-use plastics made from fossil fuels with biodegradable alternatives. We’re delighted our progress in this field has been recognised with this award,“ they said.   

STBAH was the UK’s first business acceleration hub dedicated to growing a new generation of innovative small firms in the sustainable technologies sector, generating economic growth and delivering on the Government’s Industrial Strategy - specifically the ‘clean growth’ priority for the future of UK industry. The industry awards today marked the completion of the three year STBAH programme, funded through the European Regional Development Fund.

Pete Keevill, entrepreneur in residence at STBAH, said: “When we set up STBAH we had in mind connecting seasoned entrepreneurs with university research to create successful businesses. Kelpi has been a great example of just that.”    

Kelpi’s prize for the Rising Star award will be a 10 sq m plot in Co-forest, a new carbon offsetting forest near Bristol and Bath, which aims to create a blueprint for future co-foresting teams and projects.