Prism Worldwide Increases Funding

The company will use the funds to further commercialize its sustainable thermoplastic elastomers, derived from end-of-life tires

Seattle-based Prism Worldwide, has raised $40 million in Series A and Series A1 funds and will use the funds to consolidate operations, make capital investments in technology and equipment, and expand its team.

The funding has already provided the foundation for Prism’s commercial viability, demonstrated by an initial round of sales and sales commitments for its thermoelastic polymers (TPEs).

The funding rounds were co-led by return investors Columbia Pacific Advisors, a Seattle alternative investment firm, and Jim Sinegal, co-founder and former CEO of Costco. The combination Series A and Series A1 funding round also includes participation from Robert “Spike” Anderson, former CEO of Anderson Daymon Worldwide. Anderson is Chairman of Prism Worldwide’s board of directors.

“Prism has achieved what no other company has by successfully developing a novel method to turn end-of-life tires into a useful polymer that can be compounded into a wide range of rubber and plastic products,”  John Bratrud, Portfolio Manager, Columbia Pacific Advisors, said. “Recycling tires and transforming them into sustainable, high-quality, and reliable material opens a wide range of revenue pathways in every market that uses elastomers and plastics.”

The first deployment of Series A capital was for the acquisition of CRC Polymer Systems, a custom compounding company that supplies compounds, resins, and colors to the plastics industry. The acquisition enabled Prism to increase its capacity for product development, manufacturing and distribution throughout the United States and North America.

“Few companies have such a significant number of avenues to achieve financial success,” said Jim Sinegal, independent investor and co-founder and former CEO of Costco. “In addition to individual customers, Prism’s technology holds profound value for large petrochemical polymer companies seeking ways to make their virgin materials more sustainable.”

Prism’s technology reverses the polymerization of the end-of-life tire rubber making it possible to integrate a higher concentration of recycled materials in both rubber-based and plastic-based products while maintaining product quality and reducing carbon emissions and reliance on virgin petrochemical-based materials.

“Our patented technology has already captured the attention of a significant number of customers in the specialty polymer industry,” Bob Abramowitz, CEO, Prism Worldwide, said. “ We’re already fielding inquiries from a host of companies seeking ways to make their consumer and industrial products more sustainable. Even more compelling is that once the products manufactured from our polymer intermediates reach their end-of-life usefulness, they can be recycled again, creating a truly circular, long life.”