3one4 Capital Backs Zerocircle: Innovative Bio-Materials From Regenerative Resources Designed for High-Performance Global Applications

Early conversations with Neha Jain, Varun Jain, and the Zerocircle team were grounded in the realities of what it would take to eliminate plastic at scale. Instead of abstract goals, the team spoke about systems, performance, and adoption. From the start, the emphasis was on building materials that work in the real world and can be deployed across global supply chains.

This shared commitment to practical and industrial-scale innovation is exactly what led us to partner with the team. Today, we are proud to lead Zerocircle’s latest round, with participation from existing investors including Rainmatter Capital, 1Crowd, LNB Group and 7th Gen, reinforcing their category leadership in regenerative material infrastructure. 

Why Packaging Needs Real Substitutes

Plastic free packaging is no longer ‘a nice to have’. Regulation is tightening across key markets, and enterprises are being pushed to prove end of life outcomes, not just make sustainability claims. At the same time, most alternatives still break at scale because they either fail on barrier performance or require specialised composting systems that are not widely available.

Zerocircle is taking the trade-offs out of the equation by making plastic free materials that actually work at industrial scale.

From Seaweed to Scalable Materials

Founded in 2020, Zerocircle has progressed from materials research into commercial deployment. The company's seaweed-derived materials (which require no land, freshwater, or fertilizers) are designed to work within existing production lines. This focus on adoption and manufacturability has helped the company move beyond pilots and into industrial-scale use.

Zerocircle makes coatings entirely from 100% natural compounds, eliminating the need for plastic use. The company's materials are 100% home compostable, marine biodegradable, and microplastic-free. These products offer superior barrier performance with oxygen transmission rates (OGR/OTR) comparable to conventional plastics while staying fully recyclable and repulpable.

Adoption Across Markets

Over the past year, Zerocircle’s scale of impact has been remarkable:

• 1.6 million plastic food containers replaced across India, the Netherlands, and the Benelux region
• Achieved a rare regulatory milestone as the only materials company in Asia certified as 100% plastic-free under the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD)
• Successful pilot projects with food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy
• Superior barrier performance that matches metallized plastic films while staying 100% recyclable and repulpable

Partnering with top food delivery platforms enabled the company to run pilot projects. They tested seaweed-coated, plastic-free containers across restaurant networks in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. These pilots validated both product performance and market readiness at scale.

The company has also established a defensible IP moat through a patent portfolio covering both material formulations and innovative process designs. The certification confirms that its materials contain no plastic or synthetic components that could lead to microplastic leakage.

Building Category-Leading Platform for Plastic Alternatives

Zerocircle is building at the intersection of deeptech and meaningful impact at scale, applying material innovation to a problem that is both global and urgent. The company is building a category-leading plastic alternatives platform and working closely with some of the world's largest enterprises to drive adoption at scale.

Zerocircle is now scaling up in markets where regulatory scrutiny and demand for plastic-free packaging are rising, including Europe, the UK, Oceania and India. The company follows a partnership-led expansion strategy, working with distributors and converters to deploy materials in high-volume applications like coated paper products.

Backing Performance-First Sustainability

We believe materials innovation will play a foundational role in how plastic is eliminated at scale. Sustainable packaging alternatives are no longer an option but a necessity, especially as they are now almost at the same price level as the most commonly used plastics.

As global demand for sustainable materials grows, Zerocircle’s work sits at an important inflection point as it becomes a primary driver of innovation in the materials space. They're one of the few teams in this category with the technical depth, commercial focus, and execution discipline required to scale natural alternatives globally.

Co-founded and led by Neha Jain, who represents the technical depth required to scale this vision globally, Zerocircle stands as a category leader in regenerative material infrastructure. At 3one4 Capital, we're delighted to partner with Zerocircle as they accelerate building the material infrastructure for a truly circular economy.

DISCLAIMER

_{The views expressed herein are those of the author as of the publication date and are subject to change without notice. Neither the author nor any of the entities under the 3one4 Capital Group have any obligation to update the content. This publications are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as providing any advisory service (including financial, regulatory, or legal). It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities or related financial instruments in any jurisdiction. Readers should perform their own due diligence and consult with relevant advisors before taking any decisions. Any reliance on the information herein is at the reader's own risk, and 3one4 Capital Group assumes no liability for any such reliance.Certain information is based on third-party sources believed to be reliable, but neither the author nor 3one4 Capital Group guarantees its accuracy, recency or completeness. There has been no independent verification of such information or the assumptions on which such information is based, unless expressly mentioned otherwise. References to specific companies, securities, or investment strategies are not endorsements. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or use of this document, in whole or in part, is prohibited without prior written consent from the author and/or the 3one4 Capital Group.}

‍