Oxford-based A&B Smart Materials has closed an oversubscribed £1.5 million pre-seed round to accelerate development of fully biodegradable superabsorbent polymers used in products like nappies, sanitary items and water-retaining agricultural materials.

The funding will be used to optimise performance and cost while moving towards industrial-scale demonstrations, as the company targets replacing synthetic SAPs in a market it expects to reach $17 billion by 2035.

The round was backed by existing investor Sake Bosch and new strategic investors Caesar and Living Hope VC, with additional support from Archipelago Ventures, Triple Impact Ventures, the Cranfield University Seed Fund, Oxford Seed Fund and angels linked to Cambridge Capital Group and Oxford Innovation Finance.

Founded by CEO Amaury van Trappen and CTO Dr Benjamin White, the company is based at the University of Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park and says its biopolymer approach is already nearing commercial performance in hygiene and agricultural applications.