Green materials start up Tethis has received private equity investment of $17.6 million by a group led by the Blue Hill Group. The financing will allow Tethis to scale commercial production for products manufactured out of starches and other renewable feedstock materials.

The first product being brought to market is Tethex, which provides a bio-based, biodegradable alternative to the $8 billion global superabsorbent polymer market for diapers which has been dominated by petrochemicals made from sodium polyacrylate.  Tethex is a cornstarch-based SAP manufactured using green materials and processes with similar performance/ economics to traditional acrylic-based SAPs. Tethex SAP has superior performance in highly ionic fluids such as seawater, hard water, divalents, oil and blood. Tethis can control the form factor and other features including coating substrates with SAP. Its flexible manufacturing platform has a very low cap-ex and op-ex and can be located close to the customers or supply chain sources and scaled to meet any demand.

Tethis began operations in 2013 as a spinout of novel technology discovered at NC State University aimed at the water treatment market. Tethis has gone on to discover, advance, and patent new and innovative ways to transform plant-derived feedstocks into performance polymers that are used in a wide range of applications and industries.

“We are excited about the potential of the Tethis products,” says Steve Lerner, one of the BHG managing partners. “Scott and the team have developed a transformative technology that will fundamentally change the diaper industry by moving it into a more sustainable space less dependent on oil. We’re proud to be a part of this significant phase.”

“This round of funding is an important milestone,” said co-founder and CEO Scott Bolin. “It’s a testament to the hard work our team has put together to validate our technology and prepare it for commercial scale. We’re excited to join with our investors and partners on our mission to provide bio-based solutions to major problems like enabling sustainable diapers for everyone.”

In addition to the funding, the new investors from Blue Hill Group bring a broad experience in entrepreneurship, investment, and executive leadership at the global scale.  “We’re tremendously pleased to have added such a wealth of commercial and industrial experience to our team,” says Tethis’ chairman Chris Evans. In addition to serial entrepreneur and investor Steve Lerner, Blue Hill Group managing partners include Liggett CEO Ron Bernstein, and banking executive Jonathan Hornaday. Blue Hill is joined by existing Tethis investors from previous rounds and by new investments from members of local university angel organizations, The Wolfpack Investor Network (WIN) from NC State and Carolina Angel Network (CAN) from UNC-Chapel Hill. This is the largest funding round for either group to date.