Santa Cruz Ventures Invests in Swellcycle

Santa Cruz Ventures has announced a pre-seed investment in Swellcycle, a Santa Cruz-based startup that is redefining how composite products are made—starting with surfboards.

“Santa Cruz Ventures is proud to support Swellcycle as an investor in their pre-seed funding round,” said Alexi Sevastopolous, General Partner of Santa Cruz Ventures. “They are unique because their tech combines automated, surface-based design-to-manufacture workflows with local, low-cost production using recycled materials.”

Swellcycle’s innovative platform tackles long-standing issues in composite manufacturing—such as material waste, high costs, and overseas production—by enabling efficient, local creation of high-performance products using recycled plastic. While their initial focus is surfboards, the company’s technology has broader applications in industries like marine craft, furniture, art, and architecture.

“Their platform can be applied to any product where form and surface matter,” added Sevastopolous. “By simplifying engineering and enabling the direct use of recycled plastic, they open the door to a new model of distributed, sustainable manufacturing.”

Co-Founder and CEO Patricio Guerrero says that launching in Santa Cruz was no accident.

“We’re honored to be building Swellcycle in Santa Cruz—it’s not just our home, it’s the perfect launchpad for what we’re creating here,” said Guerrero. “This city sits at the crossroads of sustainability, art, and innovation… we are lucky to be here and deeply thankful for the continued support from this incredible community.”

With early adopters, creators, and environmentalists in their backyard, SwellCycle is poised to transform how products are made—closer to home, and better for the planet.