Israeli climate tech developer UBQ Materials has raised $70m in funding, led by Eden Global Partners. The investment will support the company's global expansion, including the opening of a new facility in the Netherlands with an annual production capacity of 80,000 tons of its sustainable thermoplastic material, UBQ. UBQ Materials converts residual household waste into a highly recyclable material that serves as an alternative to fossil-based plastics. The company's customers include Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, and McDonald's. UBQ Materials is also investing in research and development to develop new product lines for various industries.
TEL AVIV, Israel – UBQ Materials, climate tech developer of advanced materials made from waste, today announced it has closed $70 million in funding, led by Eden Global Partners. Additional participants in the financing were return investors in the company, including TPG Rise Climate, TPG’s Rise Fund, Battery Ventures, and M&G’s Catalyst strategy.
The investment will support the company’s commercial, sales, and marketing scale up, as UBQ Materials continues its global expansion. This will include additional facilities in Europe and North America, alongside the impending opening of UBQ’s industrial-scale facility in Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands. The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 80,000 tons of UBQ™, converting 104,600 metric tons of waste annually into a new raw material.
“We have long admired what the team at UBQ has built and are firm believers in the potential of the company’s groundbreaking waste conversion technology,” said David Dwek, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Global Partners. “At Eden, we partner with visionary companies working to shape a better future for their industries and our world, and UBQ is a pioneer in its space with the power to redefine global sustainability at scale. We believe the market opportunity for UBQ’s materials is enormous and look forward to supporting UBQ’s world-class management team as they continue to grow the business.”
UBQ Materials’ bio-based thermoplastic, UBQ™, serves as a sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics. UBQ Materials converts residual household waste diverted from landfills or incineration, including all organics, into an advanced thermoplastic material that is both climate-positive and highly recyclable. Leading industry brands have already integrated UBQ™ into durable and semi-durable products such as car parts, footwear, pallets, display stands, panels, planters, with customers including Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, and McDonald’s.
“UBQ as a sustainable material option can have a huge impact – but only with mass adoption. This means building UBQ facilities on a world-scale, which requires significant expansion and funding,” said Albert Douer, Co-CEO and Chairman of UBQ Materials. “Adding Eden Global Partners to our heavy-hitting investor list fuels our rapid growth trajectory as we continue to invent new material solutions that will expand humanity’s ability to use waste as a raw material.”
Over 3 billion tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) are expected to be produced annually by 2050 while current approaches to waste management continue to contribute to climate change. Landfills are the third largest human source of methane, a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years, while incineration emits 1.7 kg CO2eq for every kilogram of MSW incinerated. Every kilogram of Israeli-manufactured UBQ™ replaces 1 kg of oil-based plastic, diverts 1.3 kg of waste from landfills and incinerators, and prevents up to 11.7 kg of CO2eq emissions measured over a 20-year time horizon.
“UBQ has pioneered a fully sustainable resource, pivotal for existing manufacturing industries across endless applications,” said Jack (Tato) Bigio, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of UBQ Materials. “Beyond major brands adopting UBQ™, our compounding partners have become integral to our ecosystem allowing us to further expand our ‘Made with UBQ™’ applications and international footprint, driving a true circular economy.”
UBQ Materials is investing significantly in its R&D, developing new product lines to meet functional and performance requirements to serve the building and construction, consumer durables, automotive, and logistics and supply chain industries.