A biomaterials company developing regenerative materials for textiles has been recognised for its efforts to restore one of the UK’s most degraded landscapes – peatlands.
Ponda was named Innovator of the Year at the first Pride in Our Planet Awards, in London.
The company produces a plant-based alternative to goose down by farming on ruined peatland.
Its first product, BioPuff®, is a plant-based insulation made from fibres extracted from bulrush grown on restored wetlands using paludiculture.
This agricultural method involves raising the water table to cultivate crops adapted to saturated soils.
It helps lock carbon away, stops land subsidence and is a sustainable alternative to drainage-based farming.
Peatlands are one of the UK’s most damaged landscapes, and Ponda has focused on helping them back into working wetlands.
Around 80% of the UK’s three million hectares of peatland in the country are damaged, mostly drained for farming, making it one of the country’s largest sources of land-use emissions.
How it works
Ponda grows Typha, or bulrush, on rewetted peat, a crop that only thrives when the land stays wet. That keeps carbon in the ground, brings back wading birds and other wetland wildlife, improves water quality and strengthens flood resilience.
The harvested fibre is turned into Bio Puff®, which has up to 88% lower environmental impact than goose down.
The product has already been used by Stella McCartney in the Falabella bag, alongside Berghaus, Sheep Inc. and Ahluwalia.
Demand for the material funds further restoration, building a model in which commercial supply chains pay for nature recovery rather than competing with it.
Ponda has built the infrastructure to make this work at scale, including drone-sown seed pellets, low-impact harvesting equipment and pilot processing in Bristol.
It is currently working across ten large-scale UK and European sites, including the €10 million Horizon Europe Palus Demos programme.
The team’s work has now been recognised by a judging panel chaired by the UK’s Climate Minister.
Selected from more than 300 entries, Ponda was named Innovator of the Year at the inaugural Pride in Our Planet Awards, by an independent panel chaired by Katie White OBE MP, the UK’s Climate Minister.
The award follows recognition from the King’s Terra Carta Design Lab, the H &M Foundation Global Change Award, Parley for the Oceans and PETA UK’s Best Vegan Down.
The Pride in Our Planet Awards have been created to recognise the people and organisations driving real climate and nature progress across the UK, often without recognition beyond their own communities.
Conceived by climate creator Sam Bentley and delivered with Sky and The Conduit, the awards take place days before London Climate Action Week and are designed to become an annual fixture.
Ponda was one of five winners, alongside a community leader, a regenerative ocean farm, a climate communicator and a scientist restoring one of Britain’s rarest habitats.
Investment invite
The public can now back Ponda’s mission directly through a live community investment round.
It recently opened a crowdfunding round on Republic, giving the public the chance to invest in its next phase of growth. The round has already raised £1.3m from existing investors and is now open to the public.
Julian Ellis-Brown, CEO and co-founder of Ponda says: “This recognition means a great deal, particularly from a panel chaired by the Climate Minister.
“We have always argued that restoring nature and building a real business are not opposing goals. Britain’s wetlands can be productive, profitable and permanent.
“Opening our round to the public is the natural next step. Anyone who wants to see this country’s peatlands restored can now own a part of how it happens. “
