RWDC Industries: How an Octogenarian Helped Produce Sustainable Plastics

In June 2024, Roland Wee was raising funds for his company in Singapore. RWDC Industries was a sustainable deep technology startup that he had co-founded at age 76. Wee was a late-life entrepreneur determined to scale up the production of biodegradable plastics to combat the mounting global crisis of plastic pollution. While the world’s dependence on conventional, non-degradable plastics continued to pose environmental and health threats, RWDC sought to commercialise Solon—its proprietary brand of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a sustainable plastic replacement developed by co-founder Dr Daniel Carraway.

Despite raising over US$168 million in equity financing, making RWDC one of the most well-funded PHA ventures globally, the company had yet to achieve full-scale commercial production. While startup valuation multiples can vary widely depending on sector, stage, and market conditions, companies that have raised capital at the scale of RWDC often show implied valuation ranges of two to five times the amount raised—suggesting a potential valuation between US$336 million and US$840 million based on median growth-stage benchmarks. These estimates raise important questions about capital efficiency, scalability, and investor expectations for mission-driven deep tech ventures.

Customers expressed serious interest in replacing single-use plastics, but the higher cost of PHA relative to petroleum-based alternatives remained a barrier. As Wee entered his eighties, he remained undeterred, actively seeking cost-effective solutions and new funding to reach the economies of scale necessary to make sustainable plastics viable for mass adoption. Could Wee raise more capital to scale up commercial production and achieve the economies of scale needed to make sustainable plastics more accessible? Is the basic premise behind RWDC economically feasible?

This case may be used for graduate, postgraduate and executive education classes. Learning objectives for the students are to challenge stereotypes of ageing in innovation, compare socioemotional selectivity theory with a refined model (Strategic Socioemotional Selectivity Theory) that accounts for legacy, strategy, and societal vision, evaluate the strategic impact of business plan competitions, and critically assess the economic viability of mission-driven technologies.

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