Plantner Recognized for Growth Potential in Alginate Localization Project… Secures Pre-Series A Investment

*This content was translated by AI.

On the 31st, Plantner (CEO Shin Jung-woo), a specialist in eco-friendly materials, announced that it has secured Pre-Series A investment, recognized for the growth potential and technological competitiveness of its domestic alginate localization project utilizing Korean seaweed.

Coolidge Corner Ventures led this investment round, with Impact Square, Hanwha Financial Group-Qnesti, Yuhan Kimberly-MYSC, and AI Angel Club-CNTech participating as new investors.

Plantner is developing technology to convert Korea’s abundant seaweed resources into high-value-added marine bio-materials. The core of its approach involves extracting and refining necessary components from seaweed that would otherwise be discarded or left unused, then applying formulation and polymerization technologies to improve the materials for specific industrial applications.

The company has established biotechnology, medical devices, and beauty industries as key application areas and is conducting extensive collaborative research with mid-sized companies, public institutional investors, and startups. It has continuously improved material functionality and physical properties according to industry-specific requirements while developing new eco-friendly materials based on polymerization technologies to expand business applicability.

Building on its technological capabilities and market potential, Plantner has earned recognition as a competitive marine bio-materials company by achieving various awards domestically and internationally, including the 2026 Edison Awards Silver.

The scope of Plantner’s eco-friendly materials business extends to the agricultural sector. In Vietnam, the company is advancing a project to produce and supply organic fertilizers for soil improvement using underutilized local resources and agricultural food industry byproducts. This initiative is evaluated as implementing ESG value through a circular agriculture value chain that combines resource recycling with enhanced agricultural productivity.

Based on this business model, Plantner was selected as an overseas Choi Cho (수상) at Techfest Vietnam, organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Vietnam. Local achievements continue to accumulate, including broadcast of a documentary on VTV2, Vietnam’s public broadcaster, and selection for the 2026 KOICA CTS SEED 2 project.

An official participating in this investment stated, “Although Plantner is an early-stage company, as an eco-friendly materials enterprise driving domestic localization of bio-materials, it is conducting R&D to increase utilization with various companies and expects high-speed growth.”

Shin Jung-woo, CEO of Plantner, said, “Despite Korea’s world-class infrastructure for seaweed production, the marine bio-materials industry remains heavily dependent on imports. We will promote domestic localization of alginate based on high-quality Korean seaweed and grow into a quality-focused materials company that drives eco-friendly innovation in the global bio and beauty markets.”

Plantner plans to invest the raised funds in establishing domestic alginate facilities in Yangsan and conducting industry-specific customized material research. Through this, it aims to secure a domestic production base for alginate, which currently has high overseas dependency, and will sequentially advance entry into global bio and beauty markets such as the United States.

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*This content was translated by AI.