LabCycle raises £180k led by British Design Fund with support from Innovate UK
This article covers LabCycle, a biotech startup, which has raised £180k in a pre-seed funding round from the British Design Fund and received a £250k Innovate UK Investment Partnership grant to support development of its AutoDecon system. The funding aims to help the startup move from pilot work to broader deployment of its system for recycling contaminated laboratory plastics, targeting research and healthcare institutions seeking alternatives to incineration.
LabCycle, a biotech startup developing a system to recycle contaminated laboratory plastics, has raised £180,000 in a pre-seed funding round from the British Design Fund (BDF). The funding will support development of its AutoDecon system and comes alongside a £250,000 Innovate UK Investment Partnership grant awarded in collaboration with BDF, providing a package of support as the company moves from pilot work toward broader deployment.
Why it matters
Laboratory and healthcare research generate more than 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste globally each year, much of which is incinerated. That practice produces carbon emissions estimated as equivalent to 23 million cars annually and destroys high-grade plastics designed for precision science. As institutions face regulatory and net-zero pressures, finding ways to reduce waste without compromising safety or performance has become an operational priority for labs and procurement teams.
Inside the product
LabCycle’s AutoDecon system is engineered to process contaminated single-use lab plastics into high-grade materials without relying on high heat or high pressure. The company positions this as an alternative to incineration that aims to preserve material quality for reprocessing into laboratory consumables.
The business already operates under commercial contracts with the NHS, private companies and universities, helping organisations move away from incineration. LabCycle has received industry recognition, including CleanTech Startup of the Year at the UK Startup Awards, Best Consumable Innovation for 100% recycled Petri dishes at Lab Innovations, and Best Recycling Initiative within the NHS. The company began as a research project while co-founder Dr Helen Liang was studying for her PhD at the University of Bath.
Who are the investors?
The announced investment is led by the British Design Fund, which contributed £180,000 in this pre-seed round. The round is complemented by a £250,000 Innovate UK Investment Partnership grant issued in collaboration with BDF, providing both public and private support for product development and early commercial scaling.
The funder cited LabCycle’s potential to reduce emissions and replace incineration with material recovery as the rationale for backing the company. The investment is intended to help LabCycle move from development into a phase of focused execution to meet growing demand from research and healthcare customers.
In the announcement, Damon Bonser, CEO at British Design Fund, said:
LabCycle is addressing a critical challenge for the scientific and healthcare sectors with a solution that is both innovative and urgently needed. Their approach to creating a circular system for laboratory plastics has the potential to deliver meaningful environmental impact at scale. We're pleased to support the team as they take this next step in their journey.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of biotech venture capital firms in the UK
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Founder perspective
The founders frame the funding as a step toward scaling operations and proving the technology in service contracts with public and private labs. In the announcement, Colin Francis, Co-founder & CEO at LabCycle, said:
For too long, laboratory plastic waste has been treated as an unavoidable environmental cost, rather than a recoverable resource. Our mission at LabCycle is to build a truly circular economy, and AutoDecon is designed to make that possible, with the potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly compared to current incineration practices. The funding will enable us to progress into a phase of focused execution as we scale our operations to meet growing demand across the sector.
In the announcement, Helen Liang, Co-founder & CTO at LabCycle, said:
The belief and support from our investors, collaborators and advisors have been instrumental in reaching this stage. Their insight and challenge, alongside their confidence in our team, gives us a strong foundation as we scale LabCycle and work to drive lasting change across research and healthcare.
The bigger picture
LabCycle’s technology sits at the intersection of cleantech, waste management and laboratory operations. If the AutoDecon approach can be deployed at scale and accepted under the safety and compliance regimes that govern clinical and research waste, it would offer a route to recover value from single-use plastics while lowering carbon footprints for institutions that consume large volumes of disposables.
The funding package — a mix of venture-style capital and Innovate UK grant support — reflects a common model for early-stage UK hardware and cleantech ventures, where product development costs are high and public grants de-risk early commercial validation.
This outcome also signals continued interest from UK biotech investors in solutions that reduce the environmental impact of laboratory activity while preserving scientific standards.
The LabCycle story highlights how public grant schemes and mission-aligned investors are being used to bridge the gap between lab-scale innovation and procurement-driven markets across UK and European research institutions.
They've invested in LabCycle
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