Thaioil backs Viridi’s £2.2m CO₂-to-surfactant expansion

By Priya Raman

Thaioil’s corporate venture capital arm, TOP Ventures, has invested in British carbon-to-chemicals startup Viridi’s £2.2 million ($3 million) funding round, backing scale-up of CO₂-based, palm-free surfactants and commercial expansion into Asia and the US.

TOP Ventures joined as a strategic investor in the round led by Odyssey Ventures. Alphatron Impact Ventures co-invested, while existing angel investors made follow-on commitments. Viridi will use the money to accelerate technology scale-up, strengthen its team and support commercial expansion into Asia and the US.

Dr Daniel Stewart, CEO of Viridi, said: “Having a strategic partner like TOP Ventures look closely at our technology, see its value and choose to back it at this stage is strong validation of what we've built. We'll be working closely with them to deliver our technology to market, starting in Asia.”

Stewart added: “With Odyssey Ventures supporting our growth in the US, we now have partners who can help us take CO2-based surfactants to the world.”

What is Viridi scaling?

Viridi’s method uses captured carbon dioxide to make palm-free surfactants. The company describes the technology as a platform for multiple classes of chemicals, designed to work with existing manufacturing infrastructure.

Surfactants, key ingredients across home and personal care, are the first major application. Viridi sees potential to extend the platform into other areas of chemical manufacturing and, ultimately, remove fossil feedstocks from the supply chain entirely.

Earlier this year, Viridi also agreed with Zschimmer & Schwarz to accelerate the scale-up and market adoption of its technology for sustainable surfactants.

The capital is tied directly to technology scale-up, team growth and market entry across two major regions.

What changes for salon and beauty buyers?

For salon and beauty-supply buyers, the announcement sits upstream: Viridi is scaling a surfactant platform, while no haircare range, retail price, distributor or wider launch date appears in the announcement. The immediate formulation proposition is palm-free surfactants produced using captured CO₂.

Viridi has not disclosed production volumes, named customers or formulation performance data. Its wider use in personal-care manufacturing therefore remains tied to further scale-up, manufacturing partnerships and commercial rollout.

Vireya is already launched, but neither its distribution channel nor a wider salon-product timeline appears in the announcement.

Who is backing the rollout?

Vivat Wongnirund, Vice President-New S-Curve Business Development of Thaioil, said: “We have followed Viridi’s development since 2024 and have been impressed by its progress, particularly in CO2-based surfactants. The technology has been tested in real manufacturing environments and shows strong potential for integration into existing industrial operations.”

The comments frame Asia as the initial market focus for the TOP Ventures partnership, while Odyssey Ventures supports Viridi’s US growth. Existing angel investors have also committed additional capital as part of the £2.2 million round.

Thaioil brings Asian market focus and strategic backing, while Odyssey Ventures leads the group’s US expansion support.

What has Viridi already delivered?

• Vireya: Viridi launched its first CO₂-based anionic surfactant in 2025.
• Zschimmer & Schwarz: The agreement announced earlier this year targets both technology scale-up and wider market adoption of Viridi’s sustainable surfactants.
• Industry recognition: Most recently, Viridi won the Renewable Material of the Year 2026 Innovation Award at the Renewable Materials Conference in Germany.

The company now pairs a named surfactant with a manufacturing agreement, new investors and external industry recognition.

The next test is commercial execution: Viridi has funding and a technology platform, but the announcement sets no retail or salon-distribution schedule for wider supply in Asia and the US.