Tech to turn waste textiles into construction products wins top Demo Day prize

Fab Materials wins top pitch at The Greenhouse Demo Day, voted for by investors, cleantech leaders and Imperial’s climate innovation community.

Fab Materials has devised a process that turns end-of-life textiles into a valuable construction product. “Our mission is to eliminate the worlds' unwanted fashion waste by turning it into MDF boards and composites,” says John Somerville, its Founder and CEO, who gave a winning pitch at Undaunted's recent Demo Day.

The boards produced using Fab Materials’ technology can be used for a wide variety of furniture, construction, display and design applications. “We’re tackling the 92 million tonnes of waste textiles that are currently incinerated or sent to landfill each year, resulting in CO₂ emissions of over 500 million tonnes,” John continues. “Our process converts this textile waste into a drop-in replacement for the virgin wood that is currently used in MDF board manufacture.”

Supercharging solutions to climate change

Being part of the Undaunted innovation ecosystem has helped super-charge our startup journey ... The Demo Day was perfect to launch our funding round and add to our growing pool of interested investors and angels. John Somerville Founder and CEO, Fab Materials

Demo Day is Undaunted’s flagship event. It brings Imperial’s climate innovation community together to see early-stage founders graduate from The Greenhouse accelerator programme by presenting their cutting-edge cleantech to investors on the historic stage of The Royal Institution (Ri).

"Being part of the Undaunted innovation ecosystem has helped super-charge our startup journey and has also helped connect us with an amazing support network of founders and friends among the Undaunted cohorts," says John. "We were thrilled to be a part of the pitch event at the prestigious Ri, and to win was a huge surprise and honour. The Demo Day was perfect to launch our funding round and add to our growing pool of interested investors and angels.”

Munraj Sembhi, Co-founder and CEO of Reaforma – awarded second place for his pitch by the Demo Day audience – agrees: "Pitching at the Ri for me was probably the highlight of the last 15 years as an engineer. Possibly one of the most prestigious places to present if you think about the Ri's history."

"The connections to investors have been great," continues Munraj. "People are aware of who we are, and we have had inbounds from investors. The Greenhouse programme gives you this stamp of approval and a level of credibility. Without a doubt we are way more investable now than when we started."

People are aware of who we are, and we have had inbounds from investors. The Greenhouse gives you this stamp of approval and a level of credibility. Without a doubt we are way more investable now than when we started. Munraj Sembhi Co-founder and CEO of Reaforma

Reaforma has created a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) solution by valorising waste from the construction industry into low-carbon, durable building materials, capturing carbon in the process.

Cyanoskin, an innovative ‘living paint’, won third place. The team’s carbon capture technology utilises an algae based-coating which is designed to transform buildings into carbon dioxide-absorbing structures, reducing emissions and addressing urban pollution. If Cyanoskin coated buildings globally, it could absorb up to 85% of global emissions.

"When we first began [The Greenhouse] we were one of the youngest companies, so to be awarded one of the prizes was an incredible feeling! We are overjoyed, and it has lined us up perfectly for our pre-seed raise," says Emma Money, Co-founder and CEO of Cyanoskin. The company is the first to be sponsored on The Greenhouse by CO₂RE, the UK's national research hub for Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR).

The Greenhouse Cohort 6 with Time Lord and Alyssa Gilbert
Prizewinners: John Somerville, Munraj Sembhi, Emma Money
Demo Day is a fantastic way to meet Imperial's climate innovation community in the historic Royal Institution

World-leading support for climate innovation

Undaunted’s The Greenhouse is a unique accelerator that supports early-stage climate startups, including those working in deeptech and tech for harder-to-change sectors. The UK’s first climate-focused programme of its kind, it sits at the heart of Imperial’s thriving innovation ecosystem at Scale Space in the White City Innovation District. It has been supported since 2021 by HSBC UK, through the bank's global Climate Solutions Partnership. It is also supported by the Greater London Authority via the Mayor of London, and the Inflexion Foundation.

There is such a close-knit network supporting the climate innovation space, and [Undaunted's] introduction to this community was invaluable. Emma Money Co-founder and CEO of Cyanoskin

The programme runs over 12 months, providing pre-seed founders with up to £20k equity-free grant funding, entrepreneurship skills training, business coaching and mentoring, free office space, and access to world-class facilities, expertise and networks. By the end of the programme startups aim to have raised a minimum of £100k – sufficient funds to maintain the business for a further 12-months.

"The Greenhouse has truly supported us, not only financially, giving us our first major grant that enabled us to focus on the product, and providing sponsored offices, but through a genuinely hands-on approach to mentoring and providing sessions with extremely practical advice," says Emma from Cyanoskin.

"Over the year, we have quantified our solution, validated it in the lab, submitted our patent application, gained industry leading clients, as well as acquiring 10+ awards for our innovation, with sponsored exhibits at ExCeL and the NEC. We could not recommend Greenhouse more! There is such a close-knit network supporting the climate innovation space, and [Undaunted's] introduction to this community was invaluable," she continues.

"The most valuable thing I got from The Greenhouse was the group of people I met within the cohort," agrees Munraj. "We share a lot of our challenges, wins, losses and hardships together – the importance of going through similar things at the same time, with people who are as committed as you are to fight climate change cannot be understated. After all, most of the people in my non-business life have no real experience of the rollercoaster we call a startup. This gave me the support system to persevere during some of the hardest times over the last year."

Tech that translates into real-world impact

Over the past 12 years, Undaunted’s alumni – now numbering more than 200 startups – have gone on to raise upwards of $1bn in investment, operating across 30 countries and creating over 2,000 jobs. By 2030 they are projected to have saved 7% of the UK's annual greenhouse gas emissions (29 million tonnes carbon dioxide), a third of the UK's annual waste (76 million tonnes) and 7.4 million litres total fresh water (equivalent to the annual consumption of 75 thousand UK households).

The survival rate of Undaunted startups is 93% compared to the industry average of 10%. Alumni from the programme include:

Notpla – recently secured £20 Million in Series A+ funding and winners of the Earthshot Prize 2022
Puraffinity – recently announced £6.73 million in new investment from BGF
Treeconomy – recently partnered with Octopus Investments on UK Space Agency project
Breathe Battery Technologies – now partnering with Volvo
Naked Energy – now partnered with E.ON on large-scale decarbonisation projects across Europe and the UK

The next round of applications for The Greenhouse opens in January 2025: sign up to the Undaunted newsletter to stay in-the-loop on opportunities, events and innovation news.

Contact the Undaunted team if you have questions about how you can get involved in supporting our alumni.

Innovation in fintech

Two of the startups in Cohort 6 – ClimateKick and FireX.ai – were sponsored on The Greenhouse by the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI).

“We are confident that FireX.ai and ClimateKick will contribute significantly to the development of data analytics for financial institutions and climate finance research,” said Dr Yllka Hysaj from the CGFI London Innovation Hub. “FireX.ai’s efforts in quantifying wildfire risk will help insurance companies navigate the evolving environmental risks and integrate accurate information into their analysis. And ClimateKick’s adoption of financial tokenisation and AI will enable investors to monitor their financial performance and climate impact, fostering the allocation of investment towards green projects.”

Meet the teams from Cohort 6 and watch them pitch

A huge well done to the 11 startups on Cohort 6 - it's fantastic to see how much you've developed over the last 12 months on The Greenhouse and we can't wait to see where you go from here!

FAB Materials

Video placeholder image — Fab Materials pitch

Reaforma

Cyanoskin

Resting Reef

Planet Smart

Replica Biomaterials

Aed Energy

VundaHaus

ClimateKick

Isometric Outcomes

Firex.ai

Thank you

Thank you to all those who joined us for Demo Day, and to our partners, funders, and collaborators who make The Greenhouse programme possible.

Our funders

The Greenhouse programme is supported by the Greater London Authority via the Mayor of London; HSBC UK, through the bank’s global Climate Solutions Partnership; and the Inflexion Foundation.

Logos: HSBC UK, Mayor of London, Inflexion Foundation

Notes to Editors: Imperial College London is part of HSBC’s global Climate Solutions Partnership, which aims to unlock barriers to finance for companies and projects that tackle climate change to bring them to scale while also delivering for people and nature. The global initiative is backed by $100m of philanthropic funding from HSBC over five years.