Cambridge-based start-up Sparxell has secured €1.9 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC), a significant endorsement of its pioneering plant-based colourant technology. The EIC award supports disruptive innovations with global impact, positioning Sparxell to tap into the $48 billion global colourants market.
The funding will enable the company to scale up to tonne-level manufacturing—a major step forward in its mission to transform the industry with biodegradable, high-performance dye alternatives. Sparxell’s pigments—derived from renewable sources such as wood pulp and agricultural waste—are engineered to outperform synthetic counterparts while being environmentally safe.
“This [EIC] funding is transformative for Sparxell, allowing us to accelerate our manufacturing scale-up and overcome key technical challenges much earlier in our development pathway,” said Benjamin Droguet, founder and CEO of Sparxell. “With our plant-based technology, we’re offering industries a fundamentally different approach to colour that works with nature rather than against it while meeting the highest performance standards.”
Since its 2023 spin-out from the University of Cambridge, Sparxell has joined LVMH’s La Maison des Startups accelerator programme and is approaching its first €1 million in sales. In April 2024, it raised an additional $3.2 million through seed funding, grants, and direct investments. Notable backers include the L’Oréal Group (anchor investor), PDS Ventures, Future Communities Capital, Katapult, Joyance Partners, and Snøcap VC.
Following this funding, Sparxell expanded its Cambridge headquarters to support kilogram-scale production and plans to double its output capacity this year. New production labs are also in development.
The company’s technology aims to significantly reduce energy and water consumption and eliminate toxicity in consumer-facing applications such as cosmetics and food, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional colourants.
