A&B Smart Materials Closes £1.5M Pre-Seed Round for Biodegradable Materials

Oxford Startup A&B Smart Materials Raises Oversubscribed £1.5M Pre-Seed Round to Replace Synthetic, Non-Biodegradable Superabsorbents in Hygiene Products and Agriculture

 ^{Amaury van Trappen, Co-Founder & CEO; Dr. Benjamin White, Co-Founder & CTO}

A&B Smart Materials, an Oxford-based materials science startup and winner of the 2025 TBAT Innovation Challenge, has successfully closed its £1.5M (equivalent to $2M/ €1.7M) Pre-Seed round, which saw significant investor interest and was heavily oversubscribed. The company is developing sustainable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), the key materials that enable disposable diapers and sanitary products to absorb liquid and help agricultural soils retain water during dry periods, an innovation that stood out to the judges at our Innovation Challenge final.

The funds raised will primarily be used to accelerate R&D to optimise A&B’s sustainable superabsorbent polymer (SAP) formulations and achieve the ‘trifecta’ of high performance, competitive pricing, and demonstration at industrial scale for hygiene and agricultural applications. A&B’s long-term goal is to replace the synthetic SAP formulation in what is expected to be a $17 billion market by 2035¹.

This funding round featured three principal investors: existing backer Sake Bosch, alongside new strategic investors Caesar and Living Hope VC, with additional participation from Archipelago Ventures, Triple Impact Ventures, Cranfield University Seed Fund, Oxford Seed Fund, and several leading business angels from the Cambridge Capital Group and Oxford Innovation Finance. As winners of the 2025 TBAT Innovation Challenge, A&B Smart Materials received £10,000 in cash and access to a share of £80,000 in specialist business services from TBAT, supporting the company’s early growth and fundraising journey.

Amaury van Trappen, Co-founder and CEO, A&B Smart Materials commented:

“We’re incredibly grateful for the confidence our investors have placed in us. This funding gives us the momentum to accelerate our progress, strengthen our team with exceptional talent and take the next critical steps toward delivering sustainable absorbents that will benefit millions of people in the years ahead. It marks an important milestone on our journey toward transforming an industry that urgently needs change.”

The Problem

The global SAP market is large and rapidly expanding, with annual sales of approximately $9.1 billion, projected to reach $17.6 billion by 2035¹. Each year, an estimated 4.1 million tons² of SAPs are produced, the vast majority of which are used in absorbent hygiene products such as nappies and menstrual pads. A smaller but growing share is used in agriculture, with additional applications across medical products, construction materials, consumer goods, and water treatment.

Today’s synthetic SAPs are highly absorbent but also highly persistent. Made from fossil-based materials and designed without biodegradability in mind, they accumulate in the environment as microplastics. Over time, these materials contaminate soils, waterways, and oceans, contributing to one of the world’s most pressing pollution challenges. Single-use nappies, for example, which rely on synthetic SAPs, are one of the most widely disposed of products in the world: 250 million nappies are disposed of globally every day, with an estimated 300,000 disposable nappies sent to landfill or incinerated every minute³.

As regulation tightens and awareness of microplastic pollution grows, the limitations of existing SAP technologies are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

The Solution

A&B Smart Materials was founded to address this gap, developing biodegradable superabsorbent polymers that meet the technical, economic, and environmental demands of modern applications.

A&B Smart Materials aims to enable the global transition away from persistent, fossil-based
superabsorbent polymers towards high-performance, fully biodegradable alternatives. By combining cutting-edge polymer science with abundant natural feedstocks, they are building the technological foundation for the next generation of absorbent materials, materials that deliver top-tier performance and are compatible with established industry processes, while meeting accelerating regulatory, environmental and consumer demands.

A&B’s technology is built on novel modified biopolymers sourced from abundant, low-cost natural materials. Despite a small team and a short development timeline, their material is already approaching commercial performance standards in both hygiene and agricultural applications. This foundation technology already offers a competitive cost outlook, and the funding will support further optimisation of materials and manufacturing processes as they move toward industrial scale.

The broad base of investor support that A&B has attracted to this early round enables them to benefit from a wide range of skill sets and networks, positioning them well for the next stage of investment.

Dr. Benjamin White, Co-founder and CTO, A&B Smart Materials commented:

“Synthetic superabsorbent polymers are causing a huge problem in our modern world. Polluting our land, our water, our food, and even us with microplastics. We intend to completely replace these products with biocompatible and biodegradable materials, without compromising on product performance or affordability. We are incredibly grateful to our investors and the faith they have in us. We look forward in the coming years to carrying this product to market, and hopefully, making the world a better place.”

The Product

^{A&B Smart Materials sustainable SAPs before and after water absorption (pigments added for visual purposes).}

A&B Smart Materials was founded by Amaury van Trappen (CEO) and Dr Benjamin White (CTO). Amaury holds an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bath and an MPhil in Management from the University of Cambridge, bringing strong commercial and strategic expertise. Ben holds an MChem in Chemistry from the University of Bath and a PhD in Nanotechnology and Smart Materials from the University of Oxford, contributing world-class scientific expertise in polymer chemistry and advanced materials.

A&B Smart Materials won the TBAT Innovation Challenge 2025, and was 2^nd runner-up of the 2025 BBIA Demeter Award for the Startup Category at the Royal Society of Chemistry in November 2025. They were selected for the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris (Climate Stream) and for the inaugural EarthScale Accelerator programme. They were also awarded an equity-free grant of £91,250 in 2025 from the Henry Royce Institute of Advanced Materials, in partnership with the University of Warwick Polymer Group and Reactwise. Lastly, they also collaborated with the Centre for Process Innovation to support formulation optimisation and scale-up investigations provided as part of the Innovate UK Business Growth support.

A&B Smart Materials operates from the University of Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park, providing access to cutting-edge laboratories, equipment and analytical capabilities that accelerate rapid experimentation, testing and material optimisation.

As A&B Smart Materials moves toward industrial scale, its success underscores the importance of backing ambitious, science-driven startups tackling systemic environmental problems. TBAT is proud to support businesses like A&B that combine technical excellence with the potential for meaningful real-world impact.

_{1. https://www.precedenceresearch.com/super-absorbent-polymers-market}

_{2. https://www.nonwovens-industry.com/superabsorbent-polymer-makers-in-the-world-and-their-production-capacities/}

_{3. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/08/disposable-nappies-landfill-plastic-circular-economy}