University of Cambridge spin-out Xampla has today announced it has closed a £6.2m seed finance round, led by the backers of Zoom, to accelerate the roll-out of its next generation plastic replacement. The investment follows a £2m round announced in April last year. The company has ambitious plans to replace microplastics and single-use plastics with its entirely natural plant-protein alternatives. Xampla is chaired by Jeff Seabright, the former Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever, and is the first UK university spin-out to secure B Corp accreditation. The finance round was led by Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr Li Ka-shing, which is a leading investor in some of the world’s most innovative companies and disruptive technologies including Facebook, Zoom, Waze, Spotify, Siri, DeepMind, Improbable, and Impossible Foods. Xampla is also backed by deeptech investor Amadeus Capital Partners, Cambridge Enterprise, and the impact investment fund Sky Ocean Ventures. Read more