3 May 2023, Singapore – Singapore-based impact private equity fund ABC Impact, together with sustainable chemical company Indorama Ventures, has led a £20 million Series B funding round in Polymateria Limited (“Polymateria” or the “Company”), the British company which has pioneered biotransformation technology to combat plastic pollution.
Proceeds from the funding round will be used to accelerate commercialisation of Polymateria’s biotransformation technology on a global scale. The company intends to both increase penetration into existing markets and expand into new markets where fugitive plastic pollution is most acute, including developing further in Asia. Polymateria also plans to boost its R&D capabilities by investing into its in-house laboratory at Imperial College London.
Sugandhi Matta, Chief Impact Officer at ABC Impact, commented: “With the strength of Polymateria’s scientific underpinning and the vast scalability of its technology, we believe that the solution developed by the company can help address challenges in plastic packaging related pollution. We look forward to helping the team expand its commercialization reach and further generate impact at scale in Asia.”
Lee Davy-Martin, Co-Founder and Board Member of Polymateria, said: “I’m tremendously excited to be embarking on the next step of Polymateria’s journey. We founded Polymateria to make a real difference to one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges. With the backing of investors like ABC Impact and Indorama Ventures, we are well on the way to achieving our mission.”
The Company’s biotransformation technology has uniquely proven full biodegradation of plastic items into water, CO2and biomass without leaving any microplastic or toxic residue in the open environment. The technology can be deployed with no changes to existing manufacturing processes and is compatible with existing recycling streams, giving it unrivalled scalability. Recent high-profile customers include Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the Chicago Marathon and 7-ELEVEN Taiwan.
Yash Lohia, Chairman of the ESG Council at Indorama Ventures, said: “We’re delighted to be following our money into Polymateria’s Series B round. What started as a relationship between customer and technology provider has now become a strategic alliance. IVL is excited by the potential of Polymateria’s biotransformation technology and we look forward to seeing it rolled out on supermarket shelves with many of the world’s most recognised brands.”
Polymateria has appointed Sugandhi Matta to its board, which is chaired by the Blackstone Group International Partners Chair, Marc Bolland.
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Mr Goh Yew Lin is Chief Executive Officer of G. K. Goh Holdings Pte Ltd, an investment company with substantial assets in aged care in Australia and Singapore, alongside venture capital and private equity. He is Chairman of Xora Innovation, a Temasek-owned venture builder, and a Director of Temasek Trust. He was Chairman of Seviora Holdings, Temasek’s asset management arm, until September 2025, and served as a non-executive Director of Temasek Holdings from 2005 to 2018.
Mr Goh is also a board member of A*STAR (the Agency for Science, Technology and Research) and Chairman of the Governing Board of Duke-NUS Medical School. He holds a degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
As Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Trust Asset Management (TTAM), Mr David Heng oversees two investment platforms: ABC Impact, an Asia-focused growth impact private equity firm with over S$1 billion (US$900 million) in assets under management, and Temasek Trust Capital, a purpose-aligned investment platform managing a diversified portfolio in support of Temasek Trust’s long-term philanthropic objectives.
With over 30 years in the investment industry, Mr Heng spent 14 years in senior leadership roles at Temasek, including Head of Real Estate, Head of Japan & Korea, Joint Head of Consumer, and Joint Head of China, prior to which he was with Deutsche Bank AG. He serves as an Independent Director of Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) and is a board member of the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP). Mr Heng is an IBF Fellow (Asset Management). He holds an MBA from the University of Hull and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Canterbury.
Mr Desmond Kuek is Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Temasek, a role he has held since January 2023. He was previously Divisional Vice Chairman, Global Wealth Management at UBS AG (2019 to 2022), where he headed Sustainable Finance for Asia Pacific, and President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation (2012 to 2018). Earlier in his career he served nearly three decades in the Singapore public service and Singapore Armed Forces, including as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Chief of Defence Force, and Chief of Army.
Ms Chan Wai Ching is Chief Corporate Officer of Temasek International and a member of its Strategy, Portfolio and Risk Committee and Senior Management Committee. She heads Temasek’s Organisation & People function and is a Director of Temasek Trust. She joined the board of Seviora Holdings, Temasek’s asset management group, in September 2025. Ms Chan joined Temasek in June 2006, following an extensive human resources career at Fullerton Financial Holdings, Citibank, Singapore Technologies, United Overseas Bank and Overseas Union Bank. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2012.
Ms Margaret Lui is an experienced investment professional in direct investments, asset management and private equity. She was Chief Executive Officer of Azalea Investment Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek, from its founding in 2015 until her retirement on 31 March 2025; under her leadership, Azalea grew to manage around US$11 billion in assets and developed its two flagship platforms, the Astrea Private Equity Bonds and the Altrium PE Funds. She remains an Adviser to Azalea and sits on the Investment Committees of its Altrium funds.
Ms Lui spent 40 years with the Temasek group from 1985, including as Senior Managing Director and, prior to Azalea, as Chief Operating Officer of two of Temasek’s affiliate investment management companies. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Singapore Institute of Technology, as an independent non-executive director of Lendlease, as Chair of PSA International’s Marine Services Supervisory Committee, and as a member of the Singapore Exchange’s Listing Advisory Committee.
As Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Trust Asset Management (TTAM), Mr David Heng oversees two investment platforms: ABC Impact, an Asia-focused growth impact private equity firm with over S$1 billion (US$900 million) in assets under management, and Temasek Trust Capital, a purpose-aligned investment platform managing a diversified portfolio in support of Temasek Trust’s long-term philanthropic objectives.
With over 30 years in the investment industry, Mr Heng spent 14 years in senior leadership roles at Temasek, including Head of Real Estate, Head of Japan & Korea, Joint Head of Consumer, and Joint Head of China, prior to which he was with Deutsche Bank AG. He serves as an Independent Director of Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) and is a board member of the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP). Mr Heng is an IBF Fellow (Asset Management). He holds an MBA from the University of Hull and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Canterbury.
Mr Tan Shao Ming leads a diverse team of impact-oriented investment professionals in building a portfolio that generates impact alongside compelling, market-rate risk-adjusted returns across Asia.
He brings over 20 years of institutional investing experience across a range of styles and strategies. At Temasek, he worked on acquiring controlling and minority positions in Asian banks in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He later focused on special situations and structured credit at Citadel Investment Group in Hong Kong, covering China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and led Southeast Asian mid-market investing at Citi Private Equity.
Mr Tan is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical), First Class Honours, and a Master of Engineering (Chemical) from the National University of Singapore.
As Chief Impact Officer, Ms Sugandhi Matta leads ABC Impact’s approach to assessing, measuring and driving impact outcomes across its portfolio, and also invests for the firm across South and Southeast Asia. She brings over 20 years of investing experience in the region, having previously been Director of Investment at LeapFrog Investments, a billion-dollar impact fund focused on financial inclusion, and before that focused on Southeast Asian mid-market private equity at Actis. She began her investing career as a member of Temasek Holdings’ Financial Services team.
Ms Matta sits on the boards of several portfolio companies across India and the UK, and has also held board directorships in Thailand and Indonesia. She holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and a Bachelor of Engineering from Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda.
Mr Eugene Huang was previously Managing Director, Investments at Temasek, where over a 12-year tenure based in Singapore, Beijing and Shenzhen he invested and exited over US$5 billion of capital globally across industries such as software, e-commerce, social media, education and consumer. He was most recently responsible for Temasek’s technology and consumer investments in China and head of its Shenzhen office.
Mr Huang began his career as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch & Co. (now Bank of America) in New York and Hong Kong. He graduated summa cum laude from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Ms Charina Chan is Chief People Officer of ABC Impact, a role she holds concurrently with Chief People Officer of Temasek Foundation Ltd and Head of Organisation, Human Resources and Administration at Temasek Trust Ltd. She was previously part of Temasek International’s Organisation & People team, where she led the Non-Executive Talent portfolio, covering board governance and the management of an extended talent network for Temasek and its portfolio companies. Earlier in her career she worked at Fullerton Financial Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings.
Ms Chan holds an MBA from Imperial College London and a Bachelor of Science from the National University of Singapore.
Mr Koh Boon San is responsible for finance, risk, compliance and operations at ABC Impact. He brings more than 20 years of experience across fund management, finance and the corporate sector.
Before joining ABC Impact, Mr Koh headed the business management team at HSBC Securities Services, covering trustee, fund administration and custody services, and spent 10 years at Fullerton Fund Management heading various finance, risk and compliance functions. He began his career at Pricewaterhouse before joining Temasek Holdings’ finance department.
Mr Koh holds a Bachelor in Accounting (Second Class Honours, Upper Division) from Nanyang Technological University and is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.
Mr Jeffrey Fang leads Investor Relations at ABC Impact, responsible for capital raising, investor engagement and external communications across global markets.
Earlier in his career, Mr Fang held roles across corporate development, operations and financial communications. He was Director of Strategic and Public Affairs at Temasek, managing global M&A communications, media relations, and crisis and issues management. He subsequently built a portfolio as an angel investor and venture operator, alongside his own advisory practice, before joining Temasek Trust Asset Management.
Mr Fang serves on the boards of Kim Dental, the Home Nursing Foundation, and several venture-backed companies. He holds an MA in International Relations and Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA in Mass Communication from RMIT University.