Serial entrepreneur Alf Wheeler of Zeoform reveals the most persuasive argument to make when you’re pitching for funding. Spoiler alert: it’s not a great idea. Or even a worthy one.
Alf Wheeler, founder of innovative plant based materials manufacturer Zeoform, won the Spanish Inquisition pitchfest at The Fifth Estate’s Circular Disruption event in November last year, before a jury of three, Jonathan Hannam of Taronga Ventures, Mick Liubinskas of Climate Salad and Kerry Series of NorthStar Impact. The prize was this article and a podcast interview.
There are few people who can beat Alf Wheeler in an elevator pitch. At Circular Disruption, the audience saw firsthand why he’s already been quite successful in his business. And why despite the fabulous solutions and worthiness of his competitors, each with their own alternative sustainable materials, he won hands down.
But then this man calls himself a serial entrepreneur and he’s had years of practice, including successfully raising big sums of investment in the past.
The problem now is he needs another tranche of money to kick off the next phase of his business, and it never gets any easier. But after many years in the business, Wheeler has honed his fast, witty and intelligent pitches to a fine art.
In an interview that ranges over the science of the product and the background that made him such a tenacious and clearly dazzling optimist. He also reveals what is the most persuasive argument to make when you’re pitching for funding.
Spoiler alert: it’s not a great idea. Or even a worthy one.
So what’s he selling?
Zeoform, Wheeler explains, is a material that can be used for a range of applications such as furniture and objects, like tables and lamp shades.
He’s even made a musical instrument from it. The material’s got a beautiful smooth texture and can be ostensibly sent to landfill at the end of its life (if you can bear to call its demise), but it comes with a strength that belies its looks.
Wheeler says he’d love to make a video showing an elephant stomping on one of the pieces to prove how untouched it remains.
The material has been turned into objects displayed in art galleries and it’s also being considered for interior fitouts by some of the world’s top fashion houses, (Chanel is whispered as a possibility).
Wheeler is quick to point out he’s not the inventor. The company came about when he met Martin Ernegg, who is a cellulose expert and inventor of the product. Ernegg, he says, is nothing short of brilliant, but at the time he needed help to find money and someone with business skills to develop his concept.
“I guess we were destined to meet,” Wheeler says.
“He was doing sustainable business long before it was fashionable; he’s so resourceful and can turn anything into useful material. He’s really inspired me with his integrity and his commitment to true sustainability. He lit the fuse for me.”
While Ernegg is no longer at the forefront of the business, he remains involved as the company’s head technologist and senior consultant, guiding the head of the company’s research and development to improve efficiency.
How is this sustainable material actually made?
In brief, the material is waste paper milled to a “nano level”
In brief, the material is waste paper milled to a “nano” level, then mixed with water., when it then transforms to a product as resilient as hardwood, Wheeler explains in our podcast.
Water is then extracted from the paste to create what Wheeler calls micro pulp to be finally turned to a material that is hard as hardwood and but lighter in weight, “beautiful and fully biodegradable”.
In more detail, he explains: “…we’re kind of splicing [the fibres] open. The scientific term is called fibrillation. They get feathered, if you like.
“When this is put in an aqueous solution, and you evaporate the water, two things happen: you get fibre entanglement, where the fibres knot like a giant game of Twister, and they pull together. And you get the other scientific thing which happens in paper making; you get two fibres, whenever they touch each other, they can fuse, it’s called a hydrogen bond.
“The more surface area we make on our fibres, the more contact they make together and the more bonds we get, the stronger the materials are.”
Real world applications
The company also runs a division called Studio Zeo, which works with designers around the world to create products made from Zeoform. And these collaborations are increasing monthly, he says.
They’ve worked with Byron Bay retailer Tigmi Trading to develop the Natura lamp range which sells them exclusively.
They also designed and developed the Iceberg furniture series in-house to showcase how Zeoform can be used, and it’s sold through Melbourne-based Project Project.
Wheeler says the product is especially popular overseas amongst architects and designers who are looking to meet their ESG standards because they’ve served up being greenwashed products.
“They see Zeo board as the holy grail in sustainable materials because we’re not bullshitting, we’re not putting any resins or [petrochemical] in there, it literally is just waste fibre.”
While the material currently doesn’t have any certification, Wheeler says this hasn’t yet been a barrier because it contains just water and waste paper.
Although down the track, he says, it would need to be certified as it expands into Europe, as manufacturers need to provide a material passport to ensure every ingredient is identified and traceable.
Extending it’s application
One weakness of the material is that it can’t be used outdoors.
Wheeler used the material to make an udu, a Nigerian percussion instrument because he likes to “bounce around” with it and as they are traditionally made with clay, can be delicate. But after forgetting it at a fire pit one night, it was left out in the rain for a week, filled with water and “the whole thing swelled and went out of shape”.
“I was rather upset because it was a beautiful instrument and the acoustic tone was fantastic.”
However, after a week in the sun, the instrument “reformed perfectly to the shape” and has remained useable for the past 10 years, with the only damage being a faint watermark.
So, while the range is most definitely for interiors, Wheeler says his research department is working on extending the life of the material to endure being outdoors without sacrificing its biodegradability.
And for that he needs another big whack of funding.
Early life and commercial nous
But while developing brilliant science and innovation is hard enough, getting the results to the commercialisation phase can be even harder.
His background has helped.
Growing up on the streets of south west London, Wheeler developed his entrepreneurial skills early, offering to write out the lines handed out as punishment to misbehaving students for payment. He cut the time involved by taping five pens together and writing them out at night while watching television.
When he was 23, he started a metal products business, supplying to manufacturers across the UK. Eventually, he found a niche in selling extruded aluminium bars used by offset lithographic printers “all over the world” and dominating the market.
After moving to Australia and starting a family, Wheeler sold the business and another much bigger one opened, which was the Zeoform chapter.
As a new parent, he wanted to create a legacy his children could be proud of and in fact most of his family is involved in the business, he tells us.
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