The world is drowning in plastic water bottles, but a biodegradable, edible water “blob” that’s making big waves in the start-up scene could offer a solution.
Invented by three British industrial design students, the Ooho! water container uses brown algae to create an squishy but strong gel-like container.
The inventors say their blobs are a “sustainable packaging alternative” that can hold any kind of beverage, from water to liquor. The bubbles can be torn open and poured out, or simply eaten whole, they say, and they can be produced cheaper and faster than plastic bottles, the creators say.
After winning several design awards, the Ooho! inventors launched a company, Skipping Rocks Lab, and have been selling the blobs at pop-up shops around the U.K., and offering them as samples at marathons and music festivals.
Earlier this week, they began raising funds to expand operations through the crowdfunding website, Crowdcube.
Within hours, the investment offers began pouring in and now, Skipping Rocks has managed to raise close to 800,000 British pounds in just three days (C$1.3 million)– double their target of 400,000 British pounds (C$660,000).
The company says on their crowdfunding page that they plan to use half the money to develop Skipping Rocks Lab machinery, and the other half to further research the material and “to facilitate a faster path to commerciality.”
