Bristol startup Ponda has secured a £2.35 million grant from DEFRA’s Farming Innovation Programme. The funding will help build a UK supply chain for materials grown on restored wetlands.
Ponda makes BioPuff, a plant-based insulation derived from typha, commonly known as bulrush. The plant grows on wetland sites and offers a renewable alternative to synthetic insulation and animal down. The company says BioPuff carries up to 88% lower embedded carbon than goose down.
The 30-month project will establish a 30-hectare demonstration site dedicated to growing typha at scale. It brings together a consortium that includes J&K Barnard Farms, Liverpool John Moores University, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Finance Earth, and outdoor brand Berghaus.
The project aims to restore peatland habitats, achieve typha yields of around three tonnes per hectare, and avoid an estimated 15,000 tonnes of CO₂e emissions by 2050. Financial modelling from Finance Earth points to commercial revenues potentially beginning within a year of the project’s completion.
The grant follows a €2 million funding round in 2025 and a crowdfunding campaign launched in April, bringing Ponda’s total funding to €5.6 million.
The award is among the largest in a recent sample of UK fashion-sector grants tracked by EU-Startups. It adds to roughly €118.7 million announced across European biomaterials and bio-based textiles so far in 2026, alongside UK peers such as Sparxell, Epoch Biodesign, and Uplift360.
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- Source: https://worldbiomarketinsights.com/uk-startup-ponda-lands-2-35m-to-scale-wetland-grown-insulation/
