The invention of chewing gum that brought $1.4 billion

Whenever heavy rains fall on the bungalow of aerospace engineer Mark Kennedy Bantugon in Mabini, Philippines, he and his siblings know it’s time to chew gum again. Bantugon’s parents use used gum to plug leaks in the roof, which is a creative and frugal way for the Bantugon family.

Mark Kennedy Bantugon, now the founder of Pili Seal in the Philippines, always uses this story from his childhood to explain what made him focus on creating a sealant in high school. This became his first invention, an invention that would eventually be perfected in his undergraduate thesis and patented in the Philippines. As a local patented product in the Philippines, Pili Seal has now received $100 million in investment from angel investors in the United States.

Pili Seal, currently valued at $1.4 billion, aims to provide an alternative to existing industrial sealants, which contain toxins that are harmful to human health and the environment. Despite this, these harmful sealants are still widely used due to a lack of other options.

Pili Seal is poised to rapidly transform the sealant industry towards a safer and more sustainable direction. Exceeding standards in 20 different tests for durability, fire resistance, fuel leakage, water leakage, tear propagation and weathering resistance, Pili Seal demonstrates sustainability, durability and affordability at a cost 14 times lower than similar products.

Earlier this year, Pili Seal began to undergo a review by aviation regulators, which may take two years. But after passing the review, Pili Seal will successfully enter the US and European markets. At the same time, the Philippine aviation monitoring agency will also provide it with funding, which can provide a new source of income for more than 15,000 farmers in the Philippines and lay the foundation for a circular sealant economy.

Pili Seal first came to national attention when it won the James Dyson Award in 2021, a week after winning the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)'s related technology competition. Since then, Bantugon has received numerous opportunities, winning the University Grand Prize at the 2020 Ambassador Yao Intellectual Property Awards and the Grand Prize at the OCBC Sustainable Innovation Challenge 2023 in Singapore.