Sustainable building materials startup X-Hemp has raised US$3.4 million in Seed funding, including a final $1 million from investment partner Danehill Group.
The company, based in Cressy, Central Tasmania (about 30 minutes south of Launceston), was founded in 2020 by Andi Lucas. The money will be used to improve infrastructure, fund research and development, and hire more people for their eight-person, all-female team.
X-Hemp makes a material called hempcrete, which is made from hemp fibres, lime, and water. Hempcrete can replace concrete for walls and is non-combustible, termite-proof, and mould-resistant, with building costs similar to a double-brick house.
The product was featured on the ABC show Grand Designs Australia, where a Tasmanian couple built an off-grid home using hempcrete and a horse manure-based finish.
Lucas said that unlike concrete, which produces carbon, hempcrete stores carbon, making it an eco-friendly and healthier 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 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”.
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