The Spanish compostable materials startup Pack2Earth, created with the aim of replacing polluting plastic by reinventing materials to package food and other products in a more sustainable way for the planet, has closed its first pre-seed round of 1 million euros. The operation has been led by JRV Holding GmbH, a German family office focused on startups in the initial and growth phases. The American company Mondelez International, one of the 10 largest companies in the world in the food industry, also participated in it (through its impact investment platform Sustainable Futures) The Food Tech Lab, a fund specialized in the agri-food sector, a group from investors from the Esade Alumni business angel network, Esade BAN; and the family office Brigantia Capital Investment, among others.
“For us, it is essential that our investors share our vision of contributing to improving the environment and that they are willing to help us in this mission with their knowledge and contacts, whether in the food sector or in other key sectors such as pet food, horticulture or electronic products. That is, for this first round we have looked for both 'impact money' and 'smart money,'" he says. Françoise de Valera, co-founder and CEO of Pack2Earth.
Françoise de Valera and Glenn Du Pree They created the company in 2022 in Barcelona. They are two fans of trail running and long-distance hiking who, horrified by the amount of plastic packaging of food products they saw abandoned on their getaways, decided to develop new sustainable materials that would not harm the environment. Currently they are already in an advanced stage of processing two PCT patents for the first biobased materials, made from materials of plant and mineral origin, compostable at room temperature, suitable for packaging dry products (such as soluble coffee), semi-liquid products (such as honey) or liquids with a long shelf life (approximately 6 to 12 months, depending of the product).
“91% of plastics around the world are not recycled, and the 9% that are, release approximately 13% microplastics in the process, in addition to requiring, in most cases, the addition of virgin plastic. after a few recycling cycles to maintain its properties. As if that were not enough, many common plastics contain substances such as phthalates, BPA or antimony, which are harmful to human health. Our materials, when they end their life cycle, the ideal is to dispose of them in the brown organic waste container, but if they end up where they don't have to end up, such as in landfills, they will still become toxic-free compost. and microplastics where new plants can grow,” explains Françoise de Valera.
The company's R&D&I team has developed two different materials that seal together; a flexible film and an injection molding material, suitable for manufacturing containers of various formats (sachets, trays with flexible lids, pouches, etc.) and items that are manufactured in a mold (glasses, parts for electronic equipment, etc.). Currently, it is carrying out pilots with about 25 companies, many of them from the food sector, such as the Vicky Foods group (owner of the Dulcesol, Horno Hermanos Juan and Be Plus brands) through the KMZERO program, or Angulas Aguinaga, or the pet food brands Platinum or Dingonatura.
The capital obtained with this first round of financing will allow the company to accelerate the progress of these pilots (some of them are in the development phase and others in the pre-sale phase), begin to license their materials and continue protecting intellectual property. And by the end of the year, it hopes to raise a seed round of another million euros to begin scaling its turnover, expand its offer, access other markets such as the United States and strengthen its team, currently made up of eight people.
Photo: Françoise de Valera and Glenn Du Pree, co-founders of Pack2Eart.
