PACT, a Cambridge-based startup that is developing innovative biomaterials, has announced a £9 million seed round investment. The round was joined by , ReGen Ventures, Celsius Industries (formerly UNTITLED) and Polytechnique Ventures. The investment will support PACT as it grows its team and develops its new facilities in Cambridge to scale up production and bring new materials to the market.
asked PACT’s CEO and co-founder, Dr Yudí Ding, about the startup and what their first biomaterial, Oval, means for manufacture and the environment. Fashion might not have seemed like the obvious choice for Ding and his co-founder and COO Niels Ramay. Both had backgrounds in science, but the inspiration for Oval, , came from Ding’s research into proteins at the University of Cambridge.
“I always had a great interest in design,” Ding said. He had also completed placements at L’Oréal, where he experimented with collagen, a common ingredient in cosmetics, but also the building block of skin and leather. “These personal and professional influences came together to create a passion to innovate in the biomaterials space.
” Ding and Ramay when Ding was looking for a co-founder. His background in physics and finance made him a good co-founder, but that was not the prime qualification, Ding said, “we have a mutual love of France and French design, and that made him the ideal match.” Founding PACT in 2020, they have developed an entirely natural biomaterial, Oval.
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