From Stealth to Scale: Epoch announces $12M raise to deliver first demo plant

When we first met Jacob Nathan back in late 2020, Epoch Biodesign was a small team in stealth mode with a massive ambition. It was clear that Jacob wasn't just looking for a marginal improvement in recycling; he wanted to build a platform to rewrite the rules of industrial chemistry. He epitomised the kind of founder that we built Zero Carbon to support, so we joined Epoch’s seed round. A year ago, we celebrated their $18M Series A raise, led by Extantia Capital and joined by our LPs Kibo Invest and Happiness Capital.

Today, we are thrilled to celebrate another major milestone in that journey: Epoch has closed a $12M strategic funding round, bringing their total capital raised to over $50M. We’re particularly pleased that, not only are existing investors Extantia, Kompas and Happiness doubling down on Epoch, but the new investors joining the round signal a new level of customer interest in their work - lululemon and Leitmotif, a VC fund backed by VW. Recycling nylon 6,6 is a massive problem for both the athleisure clothing industry, and the automotive industry, and this round signals a shift in how the world’s most demanding industries view the future of materials.

Our Original Rationale: The Shift from Heat to Biology

Our early investment in Epoch was rooted in a simple thesis: The 20th century was defined by industrial products made through massive amounts of heat and pressure; the 21st century will be defined by industrial adoption of biology.

Traditional plastic production is carbon intensive, reliant on feedstocks and high heats both provided by petrochemicals. It is linear, ending in incineration or landfill. Moreover, it is inextricably linked to the volatility of the global oil market.

We backed Epoch because they were developing a way to use AI-engineered enzymes to perform a low-temperature biological process to deconstructing plastic waste back into its original chemical building blocks. By doing this, they promised a future where we could create virgin-quality plastic - without a single drop of new oil.

True Circularity: Beyond the "Green Premium"

The latest news - covered by TechCrunch - proves that this vision is now reaching commercial scale. Lululemon’s investment isn't just about sustainability optics; it’s about protecting their supply chain from geopolitical shocks and decoupling the cost of their high-performing materials from oil prices. Epoch can recover 90% of the material from discarded textiles in the form of monomers indistinguishable from those currently derived from petrochemical feedstocks.

What’s Next: From London to the World

This new funding will accelerate Epoch’s commercialisation strategy across the clothing, automotive, and industrial sectors. Most excitingly, it supports the completion of their demonstration nylon 6,6 biorecycling facility currently under construction in West London. Following their recent MoU with INVISTA, the world’s largest nylon producer, Epoch is moving rapidly from multi-tonne tests today to hundreds of tonnes with the new demo plant.

At Zero Carbon Capital, we feel fortunate to have been part of the family since the stealth days. Seeing the team transition from a brilliant idea to a global leader in biorecycling reaffirms our belief that the smart application of biology is one of the most powerful tools we have to solve the climate crisis.

Congratulations to Jacob and the entire Epoch team. We no longer need to look underground for the future of plastics; we just need to close the loop.

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