Sustainable building materials startup X-Hemp has raised $3.4 million in Seed funding after banking a final $1 million from strategic investment partner Danehill Group.
The Central Tasmanian construction tech business, based at Cressy, 30 minutes south of Launceston, was founded in 2020 by Andi Lucas, and will use the cash for critical infrastructure, R&D and more hires to the existing eight-person, all-female team.
X-Hemp‘s fibre processing factory makes a product called hempcrete, made from hemp fibres, lime, and water, as a concrete replacement. Used for walls, it’s non-combustible, termite-proof and mould-resistant, with construction costs comparable to a double-brick property.
The product featured in a episode of the ABC home-building show Grand Designs-Australia, where a Tasmanian couple build an off-grid house made from hempcrete and rendered with a horse manure mix.
Lucas said that unlike concrete and conventional building materials, hempcrete stores carbon instead of producing it, making it a healthier, eco-friendly way to build.
“Finalising this capital raise reflects the enthusiasm of our investors to join us as we work to transform the construction industry in Australia,” she said.
“Most importantly, it enables us to fast-track our ambitious business plan to meet the growing demand for sustainable building and industrial fibre products into Aussie markets”.
Lucas said she hopes to replicate the success of the European and North American hempcrete industries, currently worth $3.5 billion globally, having spent four years securing supply chains and supplying both residential and major commercial projects like the award-winning University of Tasmania’s Forestry Building in Hobart.
Danehill Group, founded by John and Hamish Murray, will play a vital role in delivering fast-tracked business growth.
“Danehill Group’s investment in X-Hemp allows us to benefit from John and Hamish’s extensive industry experience and commercial connections. Their strategic investment not only underlines the potential they see in our industry, but the confidence they have in the capability of our organisation and my team,” she said.
“As a proud Tasmanian, I’m passionate about delivering both economic and employment opportunities within my home state and beyond, and we’re looking forward to welcoming new staff and more farmers to our passionate crew very soon”.
John Murray said it’s important to their family to be contribute to an environmentally sustainable and gender-equal future.
“Whilst the industrial hemp industry in Australia is very much in its formative stages, we share Andi’s vision that X-Hemp can be a market leader in what could be a rapidly growing industry,” he said.
“A solution needs to be found for both Australia’s chronic housing shortage and carbon-emitting construction industry; we have absolute confidence that X-Hemp will be a part of the solution, and we look forward to the journey ahead”.
More on X-Hemp here.
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