SUZANO-VENTURES
24.4.2024 09:02:29 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Suzano Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Suzano, the world’s largest market pulp producer, has made a strategic investment into the Canadian materials science startup, Bioform Technologies. The investment provides up to US$5 million towards the company’s seed round, enabling it to accelerate the development of its novel bio-based plastic alternatives. The products can be manufactured through modified industrial processes already used in the pulp and paper sector.
Bioform’s proprietary technology rapidly produces wood pulp-reinforced hydrogels to create high-performance plastic alternatives, which can be made using Suzano’s wood pulp fibre as a key input. Bioform’s materials have the potential to be home compostable or recycled through existing paper recycling processes and do not require fossil-based inputs. The technology is highly versatile and has a number of applications where it could replace conventional single-use plastics, including paper recyclable thermoformable films for packaging applications and compostable heat-sealable films for pouches, agriculture, and garbage bags.
With the potential to offer an 80 percent lower carbon footprint than conventional single-use plastics, Bioform’s technology has similar or enhanced product performance to conventional plastics in areas such as tensile strength and permeability for oxygen or water vapor.
Chris Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Bioform Technologies, said:
“Our goal is to produce sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics at the speed of paper and at the cost of plastic. We are harnessing the speed and efficiency of pulp and paper manufacturing to make swift and impactful steps into the marketplace. The technical validation and strategic investment from Suzano Ventures gives us a link to the world’s largest market pulp producer. We can also access Suzano’s world-leading expertise to help us rapidly accelerate the production efficiencies and cost reductions needed to make a significant reduction in the reliance on single-use plastics.”
Paula Puzzi, Senior Manager at Suzano Ventures, said:
“We’ve looked closely at Bioform’s technology and we see great promise in their technology and ability to disrupt the industry. Around the world, there are a number of innovations being developed that each offer more sustainable alternatives to the mountains of single-use plastic that we throw away each year, polluting our cities and soils, rivers, and seas. The great challenge is scaling production and getting to cost competitiveness versus cheap single-use plastic. By using renewable material and harnessing established industrial processes and machinery from the pulp and paper sector, we believe that Bioform has the opportunity to disrupt established supply chains and rapidly replace the need for fossil-based materials.”
Bioform has previously raised US$2.4 million from direct investments and US$1.2 million from non-dilutive sources to streamline its technology and validate performance and processes in its labs. This funding from Suzano Ventures will enable the company to realize a demonstration facility to pilot its manufacturing process and expand its team and capabilities.
Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, Suzano is the world’s largest market pulp producer and one of Latin America’s largest paper manufacturers. Producing its pulp entirely from farmed eucalyptus, the company’s products reach over 2 billion people around the world in over 100 countries. Suzano has had a presence in Canada since 2015, with a large research and development center for pulp, paper, and biomaterials technologies located in Vancouver.
About Suzano Ventures
Suzano Ventures is the venture capital arm of Suzano, the world’s largest market pulp producer - the key raw material for paper and packaging products that are part of the lives of more than 2 billion people around the world in over 100 countries. We invest globally in businesses that are pioneering innovative approaches to harness the power of trees, to help build the future of the bioeconomy.
We are committing an initial US$70 million to support the development and growth of companies across four investment areas: novel applications for eucalyptus biomaterials, sustainable packaging, forestry technology, and carbon removal. We help startups to grow, which in turn have the potential to develop and help shape the future of Suzano’s business.
Our strategic investments deliver shared value. By placing science at the heart of business, we help early-stage startups to grow, which, in turn, have the potential to develop and help shape the future of Suzano's business.
We provide our portfolio companies with capital, technical expertise, and market insights, alongside access to our global operations, supply chain and customer base. This includes the ability to engage with our hundreds of scientists, engineers, and technologists, based at Suzano’s research centers and operations across four continents.
About Bioform Technologies
Founded in 2021, Bioform has developed a proprietary method to manufacture plastic alternatives based on wood pulp reinforced hydrogels at high speeds by modifying existing pulp and paper making machinery. The manufacturing process has a low carbon footprint and can produce highly versatile materials to replace a wide range of single use plastics. Bioform has developed both compostable and paper-recyclable films that can be heat sealed or thermoformed depending on the application.
Bioform’s core technology was developed at the University of British Columbia by co-founders Jordan MacKenzie, the company’s current CTO, and Mark Martinez, Professor, Bio-Products Institute, University of British Columbia.
For further information please contact Chris Clark at cclark@bioformtech.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240424575263/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Bending Spoons S.p.A. announces closing of initial public offering2.7.2026 20:35:00 CEST | Press release
Bending Spoons S.p.A. (“Bending Spoons”), a leading technology company, today announces the closing of its initial public offering of an aggregate of 57,971,015 of its ordinary shares, at an initial public offering price of $29.00 per share. The offering consisted of 34,398,640 shares sold by Bending Spoons and 23,572,375 shares sold by certain selling shareholders (the “Selling Shareholders”). The gross proceeds from the offering to Bending Spoons, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, was approximately $953,917,285.50. Bending Spoons did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the Selling Shareholders. Bending Spoons’ ordinary shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on July 1, 2026 under the ticker symbol “BSP”. Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan, and Allen & Company LLC are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering. Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities, Jefferies, Evercore ISI, BNP
Strategic Partnership Between Record Asset Management and Admicasa2.7.2026 19:00:00 CEST | Press release
RAM Swiss Holding AG announces a strategic partnership with Admicasa Holding AG (Admicasa). RAM Swiss Holding AG is a subsidiary of LSE-listed Record Financial Group (Record) and part of the Record Asset Management (RAM) group of companies. The partnership is a milestone in the growth of Admicasa and marks an important step in the continued expansion of Record’s private markets platform. Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement, signed on 1st July 2026, provides RAM Swiss Holding AG with a 50% participation in the Admicasa Fondsleitung AG, part of Admicasa, and establishes a long-term partnership to develop investment opportunities in the Swiss and Global real estate market with a plan to expand into other asset classes in the medium term. RAM is the European asset management arm of Record, the LSE-listed specialist investment group managing USD 115 billion of assets on behalf of institutional clients worldwide. Record's client base comprises pension funds, foundations, sovereign
IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange2.7.2026 16:47:00 CEST | Press release
IQM begins trading on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “IQMX” Company enters next phase of growth as a publicly traded leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computing IQM maintains a strong pro forma cash position of EUR 337 million IQM Quantum Computers (Nasdaq: IQMX) (“IQM”, “IQM Quantum Computers” or the “Company”), a global leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computers, today became a publicly traded company following the completion of its business combination with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (“RAAQ”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702960460/en/ IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange The company’s American Depositary Shares begin trading today on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “IQMX”. The listing marks a major milestone for IQM establishing the company as the first European quan
GigaDevice Launches First GD24CL Series I²C EEPROM, Further Expanding Its Non-Volatile Memory Portfolio2.7.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
GigaDevice, a leading semiconductor company specializing in Flash memory, 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), sensors, and analog products, announced today the launch of its new GD24CL series I²C EEPROM. The series delivers outstanding performance, comprehensive security protection mechanisms, and excellent reliability that addresses the stringent requirements for stable and long-term storage of critical configuration data. These offered features will benefit applications in industrial, energy, Internet-of-Things (IoT), data centers, and networking. As GigaDevice’s first EEPROM product series, the launch further enhances the company’s non-volatile memory portfolio and provides customers with more dynamic storage solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702394554/en/ GigaDevice Launches First GD24CL Series I²C EEPROM, Further Expanding Its Non-Volatile Memory Portfolio. The GD24CL series is designed with high
Medical University of Graz Enrolls First Patient in DEEPER CHALLENGE Trial Evaluating Spur® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in a Select CLTI Cohort2.7.2026 13:00:00 CEST | Press release
Reflow Medical, Inc. announces that the Medical University of Graz has enrolled the first patient in the DEEPER CHALLENGE clinical trial. This investigator-initiated, single-center, single-arm, prospective study, supported by a grant, investigates early vessel recoil following below-the-knee treatment using the Spur® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in combination with a commercially available drug-coated balloon. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701995624/en/ The study investigates early vessel recoil following below-the-knee treatment using the Spur® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in combination with a commercially available drug-coated balloon. The study plans to enroll up to 40 patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) across two distinct cohorts: patients with diabetes and patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis for at least six months, with women comprisi
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom