The new startup Foamlab, grown from the Biodesign Lab at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, aims to revolutionize the plastics industry with a compostable bacterial cellulose foam. It offers a sustainable alternative to conventional oil-based plastics like polystyrene. Prof Elvin Karana: “The new product is extremely lightweight and the mechanical performance is very similar to existing foams.”
Since its establishment in the winter of 2022, the Biodesign Lab at the TU Delft | Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering is a hotbed of sustainable innovations. And now we are witnessing the birth of its first startup, Foamlab.
Foamlab is an initiative of Professor Elvin Karana and the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, with funding from Delft Enterprises and co-founder and CEO Jeroen van Rotterdam. It is a cutting-edge biotech startup aiming to revolutionise the plastics industry with an innovative compostable bacterial cellulose foam. Harnessing the power of living organisms. The spinoff launched with a half million euro seed funding.
I am very excited to have this opportunity to showcase the potential societal impact of biodesign. While our scientific work envisions new possibilities with novel living material technologies, this spinoff from our lab will serve as a testament to what can be achieved today when design, science, and technology come together to shape sustainable futures.
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Elvin Karana
Elvin Karana said: “We’ve developed a groundbreaking method to create and engineer materials with unique, customisable properties. Our foams offer a sustainable alternative to conventional oil-based plastics like polystyrene, paving the way for regenerative ecologies. This product is grown with bacteria. It is extremely lightweight and the mechanical performance is very similar to existing foams. We think this new product could have a positive impact on the plastics industry.”
