5 years of DePoly, a letter from the co-founders

It all began in 2019, when we were pursuing our doctoral and postdoctoral research at EPFL’s campus in Sion, Switzerland. We were passionate about developing a new technology that would significantly change the global landscape of plastic recycling. As we discovered a reaction that could break down PET and polyester back into their original monomers - PTA and MEG - we knew that our dream had great potential. On Feb 6th 2020, we founded DePoly with great enthusiasm and the ambition to tackle the world's plastic recycling issue by “rethinking recycling” – we had no idea what the journey had in store for us.

This was just a few weeks before the major disruptions of the COVID pandemic: with no access to labs and facilities, we had to switch gears from technical development to meeting online. During this time we were lucky to meet Founderful - they would become our lead investor for our pre-seed round.

As life started to get back to normal we hit the ground running with vision and conviction. We hired our first employees, closed a pre-seed round, and on-boarded first investors. We were welcomed into the CimArk incubator space at Energypolis, providing us with support to grow, and most importantly we scaled up our research by constructing our pilot plant, a key step in validating our technological feasibility.

By 2024, our team had expanded to 35, secured a CHF 12.3M seed funding round. We began the construction of our showcase plant in Monthey, were crowned #1 at the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award, named a Technology Pioneer by the WEF, partnered with multiple customers, and made the first DePoly recycled products.

Now in  2025, we are all hands on deck bringing our 500 tonne / year showcase plant into operation, representing a significant milestone in our journey as we scale up our technology and further develop our strong partnerships throughout the textile and packaging industries.

What started as the three of us with an idea has transformed into a large and diverse team, each and everyone making an impact. The journey hasn’t been without challenges – moments of doubt, tough decisions, and constant adaptation. But through it all, we have relied on each other, our dedicated team, and our invaluable supporters to keep moving.

We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed in one way or another to DePoly’s development. We are excited to shape our future and look forward to continuing this adventure with you!

Samantha Anderson, CEO & Co-founder
Bardiya Valizadeh, CTO & Co-founder
Christopher Ireland, CSO & Co-founder

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