CHF 250k · Pre-Seed · Cleantech · Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne-based SurfAce Cleantech has raised CHF 250k in pre-seed funding to industrialise its coating for compostable flexible packaging. Swiss business angels, including an investor from the SICTIC network, and Stiftung HSG START Accelerator backed the round. The capital will support industrial optimisation, certification work, further large-scale trials and team expansion.
SurfAce is addressing two linked limits of compostable films: they can be weaker and more expensive than conventional plastic. Its patent-pending composite coating is applied on existing flexographic printing machines in a process similar to ink. The company says the coating strengthens films by more than 30%, allowing packaging to be up to 30% thinner and around 15% cheaper while preserving the intended compostable end-of-life.
Those figures remain company claims, and certification is still ahead. SurfAce says the complete solution is intended to meet the EN 13432 compostability standard. The next phase must therefore show that mechanical gains remain consistent in industrial trials without compromising biodegradation or normal printing speed.
Compatibility can shorten the route into packaging plants
New materials often face a second adoption problem after laboratory performance: converters may need new machinery, slower production or a redesigned workflow. SurfAce is trying to avoid that cost by making its coating compatible with existing anilox rollers and flexographic lines. If trials confirm that claim, a converter could reinforce selected stress zones while using less coating and keeping familiar equipment.
That makes material savings the commercial wedge rather than sustainability messaging alone. Thinner film can reduce both resin use and logistics weight, giving packaging customers a cost argument alongside compostability. The business still depends on certification, repeatable large-scale application and proof that the coating performs across different biopolymer films; the CHF 250k round is sized around reaching those specific technical milestones rather than funding broad market expansion.
SurfAce developed the technology with EPFL researchers and operates from EPFL Innovation Park. A prior CHF 100k Tech Seed loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation supported product development, market testing, certification and patent work. The new equity financing moves the company from early validation toward an industrially reproducible product.
