Imperial College London and Ponda turn branded merchandise into a testbed for regenerative materials

Branded merchandise may be ubiquitous, but much of it is produced from fossil-based materials and often discarded after limited use. A new collaboration between Imperial College London and Bristol-based biomaterials company Ponda aims to offer an alternative by introducing plant-based insulation into university-branded apparel.

The partnership will see Imperial-branded products including a gilet and cap launched this autumn through the Imperial College Union Shop. Both products will feature BioPuff, a material developed by Ponda from bulrush grown on restored wetlands through paludiculture, a form of agriculture carried out on rewetted peatlands.

Founded in 2020 by Imperial alumnus Julian Ellis-Brown, Ponda focuses on developing regenerative textile materials linked to ecosystem restoration. According to the company, each BioPuff-insulated gilet corresponds to four square metres of healthy wetland, helping to avoid carbon emissions while supporting biodiversity and water retention.

The collaboration forms part of Imperial's Sustainable Imperial strategy, which focuses on addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution through research, operations and community initiatives. Professor Anna Korre, associate provost for sustainability at Imperial, said the partnership highlights how university innovation can contribute to more sustainable products and supply chains.

Ponda's BioPuff insulation has already been used by brands including Stella McCartney, Berghaus, Ahluwalia and Sheep Inc. Earlier this year, the company exhibited at the Sustainable Markets Initiative CEO Summit at Hampton Court Palace, where it was recognised through King Charles III's Terra Carta Design Lab.

The company is also seeking to scale production through a crowdfunding campaign on Republic. The initiative follows a 2.4 million dollar seed funding round co-led by Faber and Counteract and brings Ponda's total funding to date, including grants and awards, to 6.6 million dollars.

For Ponda, the Imperial collaboration serves as a demonstration of how branded merchandise, often viewed as a disposable category, could become a vehicle for supporting regenerative supply chains and lower-impact materials.