UK Biomaterials Startup Ponda Wins €2.76 Mn to Advance Wetland Farming

The grant was awarded through DEFRA’s Farming Innovation Programme. It will fund a 30-month project to create one of the world's largest wetland farming demonstrations.

As part of the project, Ponda will develop a 30-hectare demonstration site to grow typha (bulrush), a wetland plant that can be used to produce sustainable biomaterials.

Ponda is leading a consortium that includes J&K Barnard Farms, Liverpool John Moores University, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Finance Earth, and Berghaus. Together, they aim to show how wetland farming can support the environment, create economic value, and build a new UK biomaterials supply chain.

Julian Ellis-Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ponda, says: “This funding is a major milestone for Ponda because it moves our work beyond pilot projects towards the real-world production systems the market needs. We’re not simply developing a new material – we’re building the agricultural, processing and supply chain needed to produce it at scale.”

Mike Longden, Peatland Programme Technical Lead, Lancashire Wildlife Trust adds: “This is an exciting project with significant economic and environmental benefits. Demonstrating a commercially viable approach to managing lowland peat at scale- one that improves biodiversity while supporting sustainable farming has huge potential to transform how we manage these landscapes for the future.”

Founded in 2020 by Ponda is a biomaterials company that develops sustainable materials for the textile and fashion industry.

Its first product, BioPuff, is a plant-based insulation material made from bulrush fibres grown on restored wetlands using a sustainable farming method called paludiculture.

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