Startup Case Study: Repolywise

There has never been a more pressing time for scientists to find new greener ways to recycle plastics more efficiently. 460 million tonnes of plastics are produced each year globally. The scale of the issue is laid bare by two recent high-profile reports. The OECD estimates the world now produces twice as much plastic waste as at the turn of the millennium and the UN reveals only 9% is recycled. That means between 19 million to 23 million tonnes ends up in oceans, lakes and rivers every year, the organisation laments.

This pressing need convinced Bryan Ng that the research he was involved in at the University of Oxford’s Chemistry department could make a lasting positive impact outside the laboratory. He was convinced the science would work, but knew he needed to first find out more about launching a business through University of Oxford programmes, coordinated by its entrepreneurship hub, EnSpire.

The science which inspired Repolywise is currently being patented. It’s a new catalytic approach, which allows ‘atomic scissors’ to cut long plastic molecules into far smaller pieces, specifically propane. These can then be recycled into wholly-new plastic in a genuinely closed-loop, with the whole process producing 66% lower carbon emissions than a conventional method using fossil-sources, the company says. 

Igniting innovation

The first step on Bryan’s entrepreneurial journey was signing up for StEP Ignite (Student Entrepreneurship Programme). The two-month course is run by the University’s technology transfer office, Oxford University Innovation (OUI), in partnership with EnSpire. The course was a welcome chance to learn how businesses are created and launched. 

“I joined StEP Ignite because I was interested in entrepreneurship, I wanted to explore how real life works compared to the academic world. It was a fantastic experience. At OUI there are a lot of very helpful mentors, entrepreneurs in residence and coaches, so I built of lot of great relationships. They’re all so helpful in helping students understanding IP as well understanding business requirements, such as how to build a business plan and how to speak to customers.” Bryan says.

At the time, in 2023, Bryan was more interested in learning about entrepreneurship than specifically building a business plan for the idea at the back of his head, which would later become Repolywise. He knew he had to continue working on proving the new reaction worked and, for that, he needed research funding. With help from the University of Oxford’s Chemistry department and contacts made at OUI, Bryan applied to Innovate UK for an ICURe (Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research) grant. The award of £35,000 was a turning point, establishing if there was potential to commercialise the science.

“Innovate UK’s ICURe programme is hugely important for students considering launching a start-up because it explicitly targets scientific researchers,” Bryan explains.

“It works in stages and starts off being modest. You get a small amount of money to do a little bit of investigation, and then if you progress through that, the amounts get bigger. If you've graduated, and it becomes a fulltime job, the amounts get quite a bit bigger, which is what we're doing at the moment. It proves a hugely valuable pathway to launching a start-up.”

Oxford Showcase

By the time Bryan finished his doctoral studies in March 2024, he had been working for 6 months on a business plan with the other founder, Roland Lewis, whom he had met in 2023 and who was acting as an advisor. Roland had previously graduated from the University of Oxford before an 18-year finance career in the City. He wanted to go back to his Oxford roots to find projects he could help deliver real-world impact and, after meeting Bryan, the pair decided to push ahead with Repolywise.

The chance soon came to pitch the business publicly at the #StartedInOxford Showcase. The annual event, organised by EnSpire, is a chance for start-ups to practise pitching. They are incentivised to convince the public because each attendee is given £1,000 in #StartedInOxford pounds which they can invest in their favourite businesses. The three companies with the most backing on the night win prizes. Although Repolywise did not win, the co-founders found it invaluable experience in explaining their approach.

“We had a great time, the event was very well organised with everyone having a stall and a big banner behind them and, of course, their product on a desk. It felt like a very professional trade show but it was obviously also a great chance to practise pitching because the audience are highly engaged because they want to find out about the companies before they vote for their favourites. It certainly struck me as being something that was a lot more formal than many of the students had done up to that point, and so it was definitely very good practice for everyone’s pitching, something which Bryan and I have obvious done together many times since.” Roland recalls.

AgileLab boost

Graduation marked the end of Bryan’s involvement with the University as a student - but not the end of the company’s involvement within its innovation ecosystem. Repolywise has received an additional £300,000 from a later-stage Innovate UK ICURe grant, and the company is now based at Oxford University Begbroke Science Park. The co-founders cannot speak highly enough of how the new space and how the Park goes out of its way to support young spin-outs and start-ups.

“At Begbroke there’s a technician-supported wet lab and co-working space called AgileLab where they allow us to rent lab space by the bench rather than by rooms. It’s a lot more affordable and flexible which is great for us at that stage. Begbroke makes life a lot easier to become completely independent while still maintaining a connection to the University. It is wholly owned and managed by the University, providing access to facilities such as the Oxford Material Characterisation Service and a community which includes research groups from the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and Medical Sciences Divisions. It's no nursery, though. Venture-building and fund-raising remains in the hands of the founders, but the sheer difficulty in setting up your own independent lab space is largely addressed, the lab support is excellent, and it's a lot more cost-effective.” Bryan explains.

The immediate future for Repolywise is to continue to extend the technology in the lab and sourcing funding to take the business towards full commercialisation. In the meantime, future students looking to follow in Bryan’s footsteps will be able to hear his advice. He has been appointed to be a mentor at the OUI’s incubator so he can give something back to the Oxford University innovation ecosystem that has helped him build the entrepreneurial skills need to spin out the novel process developed in the lab which he believes will have a huge impact on the environment.