Ponda Awarded £2.4M to build World’s Largest Wetland Farming Demonstration

Ponda, the biomaterials company behind BioPuff®, has secured a £2.4 million grant through DEFRA’s Farming Innovation Programme, co-funded by Innovate UK to lead what is expected to become one of the world’s largest demonstrations of bulrush paludiculture—the cultivation of bulrushes on rewetted peatland.

The 30-month project will establish a 30-hectare demonstration site for growing bulrush (typha latifolia), creating a commercially viable model that links peatland restoration directly to the production of BioPuff®, Ponda’s plant-based insulation for apparel and accessories. It is expected to become the world’s largest wetland farming demonstration supporting peatland regeneration.

As the UK works to tackle climate change, restore biodiversity and improve the resilience of its agricultural landscape, the project aims to prove that productive wetland farming can transform degraded peatlands from major sources of carbon emissions into thriving landscapes that deliver environmental and economic value.

Led by Ponda, the consortium brings together J&K Barnard Farms, Liverpool John Moores University, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Finance Earth and Berghaus to develop a commercially viable model for large-scale wetland farming and establish a new UK supply chain for sustainable biomaterials.

BioPuff® has been developed as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel-based synthetic insulation and conventional animal down. The material has the potential to reduce embedded carbon by up to 88% compared with goose down and has already featured in products from Berghaus, Stella McCartney, Ahluwalia and Sheep Inc.

At the heart of the project is a simple idea: peatlands should not have to be drained to be economically productive. Through paludiculture, wetlands remain wet, continue storing carbon, recover biodiversity and produce commercially valuable crops.

Over the course of the project, the consortium aims to:

• Restore peatland at landscape scale through productive wetland farming.
• Demonstrate bulrush yields of approximately three tonnes per hectare.
• Avoid an estimated 15,000 tonnes of CO₂e emissions by 2050
• Create new income opportunities for farmers and landowners through commercially viable wetland crops.

Financial modelling by Finance Earth suggests the demonstration could begin generating commercial revenues within 12 months of project completion, providing an important proof point for wetland farming as a scalable agricultural model.

A New Model for Farming on Peat

Drained peatlands are among the UK’s largest sources of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Rewetting these landscapes through paludiculture offers a practical way to reduce emissions while improving climate resilience and maintaining productive land use.

In addition to avoiding carbon emissions, restored wetlands can:

• improve natural flood management;
• increase biodiversity by rebuilding wetland habitats;
• reduce soil degradation and erosion; and
• diversify farm incomes through the cultivation of high-value biomaterial crops.

 Mike Longden, Peatland Programme Technical Lead, Lancashire Wildlife Trust said:

“This is an exciting project with significant economic and environmental benefits. Demonstrating a commercially viable approach to managing lowland peat at scale- one that improves biodiversity while supporting sustainable farming has huge potential to transform how we manage these landscapes for the future.”

Julian Ellis-Brown, Co-founder and CEO of Ponda, said:

“This funding is a major milestone for Ponda because it moves our work beyond pilot projects towards the real-world production systems the market needs. We’re not simply developing a new material—we’re building the agricultural, processing and supply chain needed to produce it at scale.”

He added:

“BioPuff® is our first proof point, but the bigger opportunity is demonstrating that restored wetlands can support commercially significant material production. This project gives us the opportunity to prove that model in the UK, creating value for farmers, strengthening climate resilience and helping reshape the future of textile materials.”

Will Barnard, Environmental Manager at J&K Barnard Farms, said:

“What makes this project important is that it brings together every part of the system- from land management and crop production to processing and end use. Support from the Farming Innovation Programme is helping accelerate work that has the potential to demonstrate that wetland farming can be operationally credible, commercially viable and scalable.”

The announcement comes as Ponda enters its next phase of commercial growth. The company has launched an investment crowdfunding campaign, giving eligible investors the opportunity to support the scale-up of its wetland-based biomaterials platform. More information is available at: https://europe.republic.com/ponda.

The campaign follows Ponda’s $2.4 million seed round, announced in November 2025 and co-led by Faber and Counteract, with participation from PDS Ventures, Evenlode Impact and the Royal College of Art. Including grants and awards, the company has now secured $6.5 million in funding.

Read more: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/07/bristol-startup-ponda-leads-e2-76-million-initiative-to-build-a-uk-wetland-biomaterials-supply-chain/

• : *I have permission from the copyright holder to publish this content and images.