Latest news with #Shellworks
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Proving people wrong on our plastic solution is my boldest achievement'
Insiya Jafferjee has always taken an ambitious approach to engineering — ever since she made robots swim across the bathtub as a child. Fast forward to her burgeoning business career and, last month, she received a Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award at the Royal Opera House for her achievements at Shellworks, a London-based start-up which turns bacteria into biodegradable materials and performs like plastic. Read More: 'Why we set up a sustainable mobile operator to save people money' Standing on stage to receive her award, which celebrates female entrepreneurs of the future, she noted how Madame Clicquot had revolutionised an age-old industry in champagne making and why her company had similar aspirations. 'We're really trying to take on an industry that hasn't been disrupted and doesn't want to be disrupted,' the 33-year-old tells Yahoo Finance UK. 'And you kind of need that naivety outside to be able to do it.' The Bold Woman judges said they were impressed by Jafferjee and her co-founder Amir Afshar's commitment to building a company that had significant scale since launching in 2019. It has already replaced 40 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 million units of packaging and is on track for £4.5m in revenue in 2025. 'We are very ambitious and we have been quite ruthless about it,' she added. 'People often doubt that what we do is even possible. Proving them wrong at every stage has been my boldest and bravest achievement.' The company name was born out of initially extracting shellfish waste into a versatile, biodegradable bioplastic. However the founders, who met at Imperial College, realised from the outset it would be hard to scale and made the first of several pivots into creating the world's first biodegradable material that is durable enough to withstand heat and humidity. Vivomer, says Jafferjee, is the perfect plastic replacement. A polymer grown by microorganisms that breaks down naturally in any environment, it also has a longer shelf life. Nature's answer to plastic, adds Jafferjee. 'When you look at the fundamental technology, you are able to grow a polymer in the cell of a microorganism and you kind of scale that up using fermentation, similar to what we do for food,' she says. Read More: The life lesson behind a 335-year-old funeral business? 'Never sleep on an argument' 'What is amazing is that material, when you take it out of the cell, behaves just like a plastic. But when you put it back into a natural environment, that could be a soil, marine or landfill, it can be degraded by the same microorganisms. 'Amir and I would always say, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if you had a material that did everything that you wanted plastic to do, but only when you threw it away, it would degrade'. When we found something like this, we really tried to understand why it hasn't been scaled because it is really the true solution to plastic.' Making materials from shellfish waste saw unique headlines which left the start-up fielding several hundred enquiries a day. In 2023, they had also around 200 largely smaller brand customers in its pipeline and paused most of their operations. Shellworks, which employs around 20 staff, then spent six weeks calling every industry to gauge where it could pivot and accrue faster close rates. 'I don't know anything other than trying to do like 200 million units in 12 months right out of the gate and very high quality,' admits Jafferjee. Hailing from Sri Lanka, resilience has also played its part in being able to deal with risk and pressure in business — the business suffered a fire in 2021 and had to restart operations by purchasing machines at auction — and leveraging her skill set. 'The environment itself forces you to be quite resilient because we've always gone through hardship and grew up during a war, the economy is always on and off and nothing is ever certain,' she says. Read More: Meet the company that finds 'must-haves' to make everyday life easier As is Jafferjee's wont, she has focused on fast growth thanks to a background in large-scale manufacturing and operations, having interned at Ford (F) and worked at Apple (AAPL) for nearly three years before moving to London and setting up Shellworks. 'I used to have this frustration with Apple where they have such incredible people, but I always felt like we're leveraging these people to make a product versus being able to do something that's really world-changing.' Shellworks still had to overcome scepticism as to whether their production was 'truly green', but they now partner with major retailers including Tesco (TSCO.L) and Boots and count companies such as Wild Cosmetics, which was purchased by Unilever (ULVR.L) recently, as a client. The latter could also be a game-changer for Shellworks as it aims to hit £10m revenue come 2026, having received around £7.5m in funding from global investors. 'I really do think it is scale that enables us to actually truly compete with petrochemical plastic, because they operate on such a great magnitude than we do,' says Jafferjee. 'I think a lot of people know for a long time that plastics have kind of been vilified in terms of consumers hating it, it's a material and everyone wants to get rid of it." The entrepreneur says that Shellworks remains naive and sometimes overestimates what it can achieve as a biotech start-up. Yet optimism abounds, just as her Bold Future award showcases. 'But we always shoot for the moon and then hope that we can meet it,' she adds. Read more: Meet the 'jokers from London' who sold 100,000 blocks of butter in first 10 weeks 'My sofa took six months to arrive — so I built a £20m business' 'I paid myself £4 an hour to get my Rollr deodorant off the ground'Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Proving people wrong on our plastic solution is my boldest achievement'
Insiya Jafferjee has always taken an ambitious approach to engineering — ever since she made robots swim across the bathtub as a child. Fast forward to her burgeoning business career and, last month, she received a Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award at the Royal Opera House for her achievements at Shellworks, a London-based start-up which turns bacteria into biodegradable materials and performs like plastic. Read More: 'Why we set up a sustainable mobile operator to save people money' Standing on stage to receive her award, which celebrates female entrepreneurs of the future, she noted how Madame Clicquot had revolutionised an age-old industry in champagne making and why her company had similar aspirations. 'We're really trying to take on an industry that hasn't been disrupted and doesn't want to be disrupted,' the 33-year-old tells Yahoo Finance UK. 'And you kind of need that naivety outside to be able to do it.' The Bold Woman judges said they were impressed by Jafferjee and her co-founder Amir Afshar's commitment to building a company that had significant scale since launching in 2019. It has already replaced 40 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 million units of packaging and is on track for £4.5m in revenue in 2025. 'We are very ambitious and we have been quite ruthless about it,' she added. 'People often doubt that what we do is even possible. Proving them wrong at every stage has been my boldest and bravest achievement.' The company name was born out of initially extracting shellfish waste into a versatile, biodegradable bioplastic. However the founders, who met at Imperial College, realised from the outset it would be hard to scale and made the first of several pivots into creating the world's first biodegradable material that is durable enough to withstand heat and humidity. Vivomer, says Jafferjee, is the perfect plastic replacement. A polymer grown by microorganisms that breaks down naturally in any environment, it also has a longer shelf life. Nature's answer to plastic, adds Jafferjee. 'When you look at the fundamental technology, you are able to grow a polymer in the cell of a microorganism and you kind of scale that up using fermentation, similar to what we do for food,' she says. Read More: The life lesson behind a 335-year-old funeral business? 'Never sleep on an argument' 'What is amazing is that material, when you take it out of the cell, behaves just like a plastic. But when you put it back into a natural environment, that could be a soil, marine or landfill, it can be degraded by the same microorganisms. 'Amir and I would always say, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if you had a material that did everything that you wanted plastic to do, but only when you threw it away, it would degrade'. When we found something like this, we really tried to understand why it hasn't been scaled because it is really the true solution to plastic.' Making materials from shellfish waste saw unique headlines which left the start-up fielding several hundred enquiries a day. In 2023, they had also around 200 largely smaller brand customers in its pipeline and paused most of their operations. Shellworks, which employs around 20 staff, then spent six weeks calling every industry to gauge where it could pivot and accrue faster close rates. 'I don't know anything other than trying to do like 200 million units in 12 months right out of the gate and very high quality,' admits Jafferjee. Hailing from Sri Lanka, resilience has also played its part in being able to deal with risk and pressure in business — the business suffered a fire in 2021 and had to restart operations by purchasing machines at auction — and leveraging her skill set. 'The environment itself forces you to be quite resilient because we've always gone through hardship and grew up during a war, the economy is always on and off and nothing is ever certain,' she says. Read More: Meet the company that finds 'must-haves' to make everyday life easier As is Jafferjee's wont, she has focused on fast growth thanks to a background in large-scale manufacturing and operations, having interned at Ford (F) and worked at Apple (AAPL) for nearly three years before moving to London and setting up Shellworks. 'I used to have this frustration with Apple where they have such incredible people, but I always felt like we're leveraging these people to make a product versus being able to do something that's really world-changing.' Shellworks still had to overcome scepticism as to whether their production was 'truly green', but they now partner with major retailers including Tesco (TSCO.L) and Boots and count companies such as Wild Cosmetics, which was purchased by Unilever (ULVR.L) recently, as a client. The latter could also be a game-changer for Shellworks as it aims to hit £10m revenue come 2026, having received around £7.5m in funding from global investors. 'I really do think it is scale that enables us to actually truly compete with petrochemical plastic, because they operate on such a great magnitude than we do,' says Jafferjee. 'I think a lot of people know for a long time that plastics have kind of been vilified in terms of consumers hating it, it's a material and everyone wants to get rid of it." The entrepreneur says that Shellworks remains naive and sometimes overestimates what it can achieve as a biotech start-up. Yet optimism abounds, just as her Bold Future award showcases. 'But we always shoot for the moon and then hope that we can meet it,' she adds. Read more: Meet the 'jokers from London' who sold 100,000 blocks of butter in first 10 weeks 'My sofa took six months to arrive — so I built a £20m business' 'I paid myself £4 an hour to get my Rollr deodorant off the ground'Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The boss who has found ‘nature's answer to plastic'
Insiya Jafferjee has always taken an ambitious approach to engineering — ever since she made robots swim across the bathtub as a child. Fast forward to her burgeoning business career and, last month, she received a Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award at the Royal Opera House for her achievements at Shellworks, a London-based start-up which turns bacteria into biodegradable materials and performs like plastic. Read More: 'Why we set up a sustainable mobile operator to save people money' Standing on stage to receive her award, which celebrates female entrepreneurs of the future, she noted how Madame Clicquot had revolutionised an age-old industry in champagne making and why her company had similar aspirations. 'We're really trying to take on an industry that hasn't been disrupted and doesn't want to be disrupted,' the 33-year-old tells Yahoo Finance UK. 'And you kind of need that naivety outside to be able to do it.' The Bold Woman judges said they were impressed by Jafferjee and her co-founder Amir Afshar's commitment to building a company that had significant scale since launching in 2019. It has already replaced 40 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 million units of packaging and is on track for £4.5m in revenue in 2025. 'We are very ambitious and we have been quite ruthless about it,' she added. 'People often doubt that what we do is even possible. Proving them wrong at every stage has been my boldest and bravest achievement.' The company name was born out of initially extracting shellfish waste into a versatile, biodegradable bioplastic. However the founders, who met at Imperial College, realised from the outset it would be hard to scale and made the first of several pivots into creating the world's first biodegradable material that is durable enough to withstand heat and humidity. Vivomer, says Jafferjee, is the perfect plastic replacement. A polymer grown by microorganisms that breaks down naturally in any environment, it also has a longer shelf life. Nature's answer to plastic, adds Jafferjee. 'When you look at the fundamental technology, you are able to grow a polymer in the cell of a microorganism and you kind of scale that up using fermentation, similar to what we do for food,' she says. Read More: The life lesson behind a 335-year-old funeral business? 'Never sleep on an argument' 'What is amazing is that material, when you take it out of the cell, behaves just like a plastic. But when you put it back into a natural environment, that could be a soil, marine or landfill, it can be degraded by the same microorganisms. 'Amir and I would always say, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if you had a material that did everything that you wanted plastic to do, but only when you threw it away, it would degrade'. When we found something like this, we really tried to understand why it hasn't been scaled because it is really the true solution to plastic.' Making materials from shellfish waste saw unique headlines which left the start-up fielding several hundred enquiries a day. In 2023, they had also around 200 largely smaller brand customers in its pipeline and paused most of their operations. Shellworks, which employs around 20 staff, then spent six weeks calling every industry to gauge where it could pivot and accrue faster close rates. 'I don't know anything other than trying to do like 200 million units in 12 months right out of the gate and very high quality,' admits Jafferjee. Hailing from Sri Lanka, resilience has also played its part in being able to deal with risk and pressure in business — the business suffered a fire in 2021 and had to restart operations by purchasing machines at auction — and leveraging her skill set. 'The environment itself forces you to be quite resilient because we've always gone through hardship and grew up during a war, the economy is always on and off and nothing is ever certain,' she says. Read More: Meet the company that finds 'must-haves' to make everyday life easier As is Jafferjee's wont, she has focused on fast growth thanks to a background in large-scale manufacturing and operations, having interned at Ford (F) and worked at Apple (AAPL) for nearly three years before moving to London and setting up Shellworks. 'I used to have this frustration with Apple where they have such incredible people, but I always felt like we're leveraging these people to make a product versus being able to do something that's really world-changing.' Shellworks still had to overcome scepticism as to whether their production was 'truly green', but they now partner with major retailers including Tesco (TSCO.L) and Boots and count companies such as Wild Cosmetics, which was purchased by Unilever (ULVR.L) recently, as a client. The latter could also be a game-changer for Shellworks as it aims to hit £10m revenue come 2026, having received around £7.5m in funding from global investors. 'I really do think it is scale that enables us to actually truly compete with petrochemical plastic, because they operate on such a great magnitude than we do,' says Jafferjee. 'I think a lot of people know for a long time that plastics have kind of been vilified in terms of consumers hating it, it's a material and everyone wants to get rid of it." The entrepreneur says that Shellworks remains naive and sometimes overestimates what it can achieve as a biotech start-up. Yet optimism abounds, just as her Bold Future award showcases. 'But we always shoot for the moon and then hope that we can meet it,' she adds. Read more: Meet the 'jokers from London' who sold 100,000 blocks of butter in first 10 weeks 'My sofa took six months to arrive — so I built a £20m business' 'I paid myself £4 an hour to get my Rollr deodorant off the ground'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Proving people wrong on our plastic solution is my boldest achievement'
Insiya Jafferjee has always taken an ambitious approach to engineering — ever since she made robots swim across the bathtub as a child. Fast forward to her burgeoning business career and, last month, she received a Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award at the Royal Opera House for her achievements at Shellworks, a London-based start-up which turns bacteria into biodegradable materials and performs like plastic. Read More: 'Why we set up a sustainable mobile operator to save people money' Standing on stage to receive her award, which celebrates female entrepreneurs of the future, she noted how Madame Clicquot had revolutionised an age-old industry in champagne making and why her company had similar aspirations. 'We're really trying to take on an industry that hasn't been disrupted and doesn't want to be disrupted,' the 33-year-old tells Yahoo Finance UK. 'And you kind of need that naivety outside to be able to do it.' The Bold Woman judges said they were impressed by Jafferjee and her co-founder Amir Afshar's commitment to building a company that had significant scale since launching in 2019. It has already replaced 40 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 million units of packaging and is on track for £4.5m in revenue in 2025. 'We are very ambitious and we have been quite ruthless about it,' she added. 'People often doubt that what we do is even possible. Proving them wrong at every stage has been my boldest and bravest achievement.' The company name was born out of initially extracting shellfish waste into a versatile, biodegradable bioplastic. However the founders, who met at Imperial College, realised from the outset it would be hard to scale and made the first of several pivots into creating the world's first biodegradable material that is durable enough to withstand heat and humidity. Vivomer, says Jafferjee, is the perfect plastic replacement. A polymer grown by microorganisms that breaks down naturally in any environment, it also has a longer shelf life. Nature's answer to plastic, adds Jafferjee. 'When you look at the fundamental technology, you are able to grow a polymer in the cell of a microorganism and you kind of scale that up using fermentation, similar to what we do for food,' she says. Read More: The life lesson behind a 335-year-old funeral business? 'Never sleep on an argument' 'What is amazing is that material, when you take it out of the cell, behaves just like a plastic. But when you put it back into a natural environment, that could be a soil, marine or landfill, it can be degraded by the same microorganisms. 'Amir and I would always say, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if you had a material that did everything that you wanted plastic to do, but only when you threw it away, it would degrade'. When we found something like this, we really tried to understand why it hasn't been scaled because it is really the true solution to plastic.' Making materials from shellfish waste saw unique headlines which left the start-up fielding several hundred enquiries a day. In 2023, they had also around 200 largely smaller brand customers in its pipeline and paused most of their operations. Shellworks, which employs around 20 staff, then spent six weeks calling every industry to gauge where it could pivot and accrue faster close rates. 'I don't know anything other than trying to do like 200 million units in 12 months right out of the gate and very high quality,' admits Jafferjee. Hailing from Sri Lanka, resilience has also played its part in being able to deal with risk and pressure in business — the business suffered a fire in 2021 and had to restart operations by purchasing machines at auction — and leveraging her skill set. 'The environment itself forces you to be quite resilient because we've always gone through hardship and grew up during a war, the economy is always on and off and nothing is ever certain,' she says. Read More: Meet the company that finds 'must-haves' to make everyday life easier As is Jafferjee's wont, she has focused on fast growth thanks to a background in large-scale manufacturing and operations, having interned at Ford (F) and worked at Apple (AAPL) for nearly three years before moving to London and setting up Shellworks. 'I used to have this frustration with Apple where they have such incredible people, but I always felt like we're leveraging these people to make a product versus being able to do something that's really world-changing.' Shellworks still had to overcome scepticism as to whether their production was 'truly green', but they now partner with major retailers including Tesco (TSCO.L) and Boots and count companies such as Wild Cosmetics, which was purchased by Unilever (ULVR.L) recently, as a client. The latter could also be a game-changer for Shellworks as it aims to hit £10m revenue come 2026, having received around £7.5m in funding from global investors. 'I really do think it is scale that enables us to actually truly compete with petrochemical plastic, because they operate on such a great magnitude than we do,' says Jafferjee. 'I think a lot of people know for a long time that plastics have kind of been vilified in terms of consumers hating it, it's a material and everyone wants to get rid of it." The entrepreneur says that Shellworks remains naive and sometimes overestimates what it can achieve as a biotech start-up. Yet optimism abounds, just as her Bold Future award showcases. 'But we always shoot for the moon and then hope that we can meet it,' she adds. Read more: Meet the 'jokers from London' who sold 100,000 blocks of butter in first 10 weeks 'My sofa took six months to arrive — so I built a £20m business' 'I paid myself £4 an hour to get my Rollr deodorant off the ground'Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
South Wales Argus
01-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Top business award for London Stock Exchange chief executive
Dame Julia Hoggett has been named this year's winner of the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award, the longest-running international accolade honouring outstanding women in business. She was recognised for her leadership and impact as a woman in financial services for her role at the London Stock Exchange, the largest European exchange, and for her leadership of the UK's Capital Markets Industry Taskforce. Judges also praised her role in championing diversity and inclusion throughout her career. Insiya Jafferjee, co-founder of sustainable packaging company Shellworks, won Veuve Clicquot's Bold Future Award (PA) Insiya Jafferjee, co-founder of sustainable packaging company Shellworks, was awarded Veuve Clicquot's Bold Future Award, which celebrates female entrepreneurs of the future. She was honoured for creating the world's first sustainable packaging material with the aim of tackling the plastic waste crisis. The judges said they were impressed by her commitment to building a business with significant scale at such speed – Shellworks has already replaced 40 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 million packaging solutions that would have otherwise relied on petroleum plastics. Dame Julia said: 'It is a huge honour to win such a prestigious award and be recognised amongst the ranks of these other truly inspiring, bold women. 'I often use the phrase 'the braver I am, the braver I get'. Being bold, brave, ambitious and inclusive in our vision for the London Stock Exchange and its role in building an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs and investors can thrive is hugely important to me. 'That is why I am so honoured to have won this award – one that passes the metaphorical baton for female business leaders on from Madame Clicquot herself. 'However, any organisation is not about one person, but about the remarkable teams of people that make them up. I am incredibly proud of, and grateful to, the teams that support me in running the London Stock Exchange and our wider businesses each and every day.' Ms Jafferjee said: 'I'm incredibly proud of how far Shellworks has come, growing from a small start-up into a leader in sustainable packaging. Last year we reached £1 million in revenue, and this year we're setting our sights on £4.5 million. 'The journey has been tricky at times but deeply rewarding, and I'm excited for what's ahead. 'The biggest challenge I've faced with Shellworks is scepticism. People often doubt that what we do is even possible. At first, they didn't believe we could create the product. Then, they said it couldn't be scaled. Later, they insisted it couldn't be sold. 'Proving them wrong at every stage has been my boldest and bravest achievement, and I'm honoured that this award recognises that journey. I hope to inspire other women to be fearless and pursue their passions.' Jean-Marc Gallot, president of Veuve Clicquot, said: 'Building on the legacy of Madame Clicquot, these two women are reshaping the future of business. 'Their achievements go far beyond profit, serving as inspiration for aspiring female entrepreneurs. Whether it's driving the UK economy or tackling plastic waste, they show that bold decisions, standing out, and proving others wrong lead to both financial success and positive societal impact.'
