UCF Business Incubation Program client company creating new water-soluble materials to replace plastics
Winter Springs, Fla. (January 6, 2022) – While the buzz on crowdfunding campaigns has certainly cooled overall, a Longwood firm working to eliminate traditional plastic products raised more than $1 million through StartEngine.
Timeplast, a client of the Winter Springs Incubator, has spent the last 15 years developing a new solution where its materials dissolve in water after 60 hours. The new material, based on organic waste, has the potential of replacing most fossil fuel-based materials.
“Worldwide countries are taking steps to eliminate plastics in a wide-range of methods, with some countries, like Canada, banning single-use plastics all together,” says Manuel Rendon, founder and CEO, Timeplast. “Globally, we create more than 400 million tons of plastic waste every year, which is just not sustainable.”
Rendon should know. His background is in environmental engineering with a stint as an executive at PepsiCo. He also created and patented a bio-based hydro soluble material and created a liquid solution for the molecular disintegration and up-cycling of fossil based plastics.
The new material coming to market can be used for all types of plastics as a plug and play solution, which is seamlessly integrated, using today’s current equipment and manufacturing practices.
For instance, the material is already being used to create new soluble straws.
In this case, instead of using paper straws, which are often sent to a landfill and are disliked by many people, Timeplast’s material creates straws that look and feel like traditional plastic straws but dissolve after their intended use, leaving behind no negative byproducts and more importantly, no micro plastic.
Of course, it lasts hours longer than what it takes to drink a beverage.
The material, whose main components are derived from organic waste, along with other materials which are FDA approved for human consumption, can be used to replace fossil-based materials in nearly any application which currently employs conventional plastic.
For the StartEngine campaign, the company was able to attract investors from across the globe with investments ranging from $100 to $10,000. Investors received common shares for their investment.
“The response has been significantly better than what we had hoped for,” Rendon says. “The world truly understands the issues that plastics and other materials create for our environment and see this as a solution to a cleaner planet in the future.”
Currently, the company employs nine individuals in Asia, Europe and Latin America, including two in Longwood. The company is pre-revenue but is manufacturing the new materials locally at their Longwood headquarters.
“”Timeplast is another example of homegrown businesses with innovation the potential of having a positively impact to a global challenge,” says Rafael Caamano, site manager, UCF Business Incubator at Winter Springs. “Supporting and incubating companies such as Timeplast could contribute to our regional economy as they have the necessities of generating high-paying jobs while attracting outside capital.”
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For more information media should contact –
Tony Martinez, Timeplast, 305-801-0043, tony.martinez@timeplast.net
Rafael Caamano, UCF Business Incubation Program, 407-408-4297, Rafael.Caamano@ucf.edu
Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About Timeplast: Timeplast is a techno-organic material that dissolves in 60 hours after being discarded in water with the potential to replace almost all types of fossil-based conventional plastics, paper, metal and even glass applications while being ASTM certified for complete dissolution, not in weeks, months or years, but hours. Currently wrapping up 15 years of R&D and prototyping, Timeplast has assembled an experienced leadership team and has been awarded 4 patents and a global supply chain. For more information, visit Timeplast.net
About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With eight facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit https://incubator.ucf.edu/