A living coffin as a new way to honor life–and restore nature

“Death is not fun. Yet, people appreciate that we are changing the narrative around this topic. We do so by introducing innovation and sustaining nature’s cycle, releasing nutrients into the environment, giving new life,” says Bob Hendrikx. As the CEO of Loop Biotech, he brings sustainability to the funeral industry, and at the same time, gives a new perspective to life. 

The living coffins of the Delft startup are made with upcycled hemp fiber inoculated with mycelia fungi. The organisms eat up the substrate, creating tridimensional structures by binding themselves with the material. As a result, they can make a rock-like material, similar to lichens that sometimes grow on tree trunks. Once buried, the caskets become part of the soil, and with their nutrients, they contribute to the generation of new life. 

Eyes on the counter

I met Bob at his Delft office. It is a hectic day, as the company is fundraising and chose to do so uniquely. Aiming to collect €1.5 million, the startup secured €600,000 from previous investors, sourcing the remaining amount through crowdfunding on the platform Bondex. The company will use this sum to finance its international expansion and commercialization. The coffins are available to buy in the Netherlands and, recently, in the United Kingdom. 

Excited about the campaign, Bob refreshes the donation counter before and right after our chat. As of our meeting on March 21, Loop Biotech had raised close to €800,000. A few days later, it announced passing the million mark. The goal is in sight, with the funding deadline set for April 24.

A restless kid with a vision

Son of an architect, he has always been fascinated by growth. “My favorite game on the way to school with my father was counting cranes,” he recalls. Bob defines himself as ‘restless ’- as his teachers did in elementary school–and combined this allure to growth with a love for nature, which he developed as a kid during vacations in the Austrian mountains. 

“Being the youngest of four brothers, I’ve always been sensitive to unfairness and inequality and felt the need to give nature a voice. Why are we harming the planet? Why are we the only species with a negative footprint?” the designer explains.  

He decided to follow in his father's footsteps, studying architecture to design green buildings. During his study path, he came across the idea of living buildings, dwellings that evolve over time. After some time spent in Detroit working on a project to renovate a house with all sorts of cutting-edge technology–solar panels, green roofs, and insulation–Bob felt disillusioned. “I did what were supposed to be the best things for the environment but realized that I was still hurting the planet.”

© Loop Biotech

Burying to give new life

Returning to the Netherlands, he devoured every book and resource about fungi, learning about their power in growing new life. The journey culminated in his master's thesis about a living house made of mycelia. Considering the idea of becoming an entrepreneur and his extensive knowledge of fungi, he realized that coffins are one of the few products that spend all their lives underground. 

So, in 2020, the Loop Biotech journey began. The company set foot in the startup accelerator YES!Delft, acquiring the first customer and kicking off prototyping and development. On a Saturday morning, Bob gets a call from the funeral agency. They sold one of the coffins and needed it immediately. Having prototypes only, Bob does it with what he has and delivers the casket personally, seeing before his eyes the dead body being placed into the coffin. 

“From my perspective, Loop Biotech was all about enriching nature, and by coincidence, I was making coffins. At that moment, I was confronted with the dead body. In hindsight, it was a peaceful experience, because you fully appreciate being alive,” he recalls. 

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Loop Biotech’s growth 

After announcing that the first person in the Netherlands was buried in a living coffin, lots of media attention came, with enquiries coming from every corner of the globe. The CEO worked on a shoestring budget in the first two years. The turning point came after a successful pitch on Dragons’ Den, which secured a €1 million investment from serial entrepreneurs Shawn Harris and Pieter Schoen. The money gave room to expand the range of products, structure a team, and settle in the current headquarters. I get to see Loop Biotech's production line behind the living Coocon–the company’s flagship coffin. 

The process starts by growing the material. Once ready, the substrate is poured into the coffin molds. After that, the coffin goes through different controlled environment rooms, where the material grows and stabilizes, reaching the desired sturdiness. Yet, the outside layer of the casket has a velvet-like feeling, coated with a different kind of engineered fungi. It takes a week to produce a coffin, and the plant can currently produce 500 of them each month. 

Looking back at his journey, Bob is as driven as he was on the first day, but acknowledges how entrepreneurship came as a reality check. “I have accepted the rules of the game we are playing. At the same time, if we can build a fully profitable company while enriching nature, we have, in a way, hacked capitalism,“ the designer says.  

Lonneke Westhoff and Bob Hendrikx - © Loop Biotech

Finding stability 

Finding a co-founder was challenging as a bold, creative, and visionary individual. Yet, having a co-founder is necessary for several reasons: to share the burden of entrepreneurship and to appeal to investors, to name a few. 

“During one of the acceleration programs I attended, one of the coaches asked me who I would want to have as a co-founder. I replied that I would need someone exactly like my girlfriend.  ‘Why don’t you ask her?’ he said, and so I did,” Bob recalls. Since 2023, his partner Lonneke Westhoff stepped into the position. An engineer by training, Lonneke counterbalances Bob’s exuberance. “I’m the bird and she is the nest,” he adds.

The entrepreneur looks beyond the funding round. Coffins and urns are just the start. In recent years, he has presented other examples of fungi-based products, such as a living couch or the living bin. Still, the designer practices patience, a challenging exercise for a restless kid. 

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