Startup name: Planet Smart
Website: https://www.planetsmart.co/
Tell Us About Planet Smart
Planet Smart is a London-based deep tech startup creating smarter biomaterials for a better planet. Our flagship innovation, PlanetSorb, is the world’s first naturally biodegradable superabsorbent polymer with superior performance, designed to replace fossil-based plastics in hygiene, agriculture, packaging and mining waste products. Planet Smart was founded by Dr Gerald Marin and Maurice Rüttimann, and the company’s mission is to eliminate microplastics from everyday life and prove that sustainable design can also outperform the status quo.
Why Do You Think the Deep Tech and the Biomaterials Sector Specifically Needed a Breakthrough Like Planet Smart?
The hygiene sector has been sitting on a huge, mostly invisible problem – the fossil-based plastics hidden inside products like nappies and pads don’t break down and shed microplastics into the environment. With hundreds of thousands of these products thrown away every minute worldwide, and hygiene waste now recognised as one of the planet’s largest hidden sources of microplastic pollution, the old materials have become impossible to justify.
At the same time, regulators and consumers are both demanding change. The EU’s ban on intentionally added microplastics and rising pressure on wood pulp supply mean that legacy materials are becoming riskier and more expensive, yet until now there hasn’t been a biodegradable alternative that can match the performance or cost of conventional superabsorbent polymers. The sector needed an innovation like PlanetSorb because it finally offers a scalable, high-performance, cost-competitive material that eliminates microplastics without asking parents, brands, or manufacturers to compromise.
How Has Planet Smart Grown In 2025?
Planet Smart made a decisive leap from a research-driven project into a fully launched biomaterials company. After two years of scientific development, the team secured $1 million in pre-seed funding from General Inception, Vertical Venture Partners, Innovate UK and the Undaunted Accelerator. This round enabled the company to officially launch PlanetSorb, expand its R&D operations in White City, and begin commercial trials with major global hygiene manufacturers.
The team itself has also grown, bringing together polymer chemists and industry veterans from organisations like BASF and P&G Ventures. On the commercial side, Planet Smart has gained real market traction – it secured four letters of intent from leading hygiene manufacturers and two purchase orders from European brands, supported by independent testing confirming that PlanetSorb meets or exceeds industry standards.
Altogether, 2025 marked the year Planet Smart moved from breakthrough science to a commercially validated, fast-scaling startup preparing for its next phase of manufacturing and global partnerships.
What Does Planet Smart Have In Story for 2026?
In 2026, Planet Smart plans to move beyond lab-scale production and begin expanding its manufacturing capacity, laying the groundwork to reach one kilotonne of annual output – equivalent to around 45 million nappies’ worth of PlanetSorb.
The company will also deepen its commercial partnerships and advance trials with global hygiene manufacturers to bring PlanetSorb into mainstream products. At the same time, the team will continue developing new applications for its biodegradable absorbents across agriculture, wound care, packaging and mining waste management.
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