Espoo-based Paptic recently concluded a growth financing round, raising a total of €27.5 million with significant contributions from investors such as UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund, Emerald Technology Ventures, SIG InnoVentures, and EIC Fund. The company specializes in the production of wood fiber-based packaging materials as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics. The secured funding is earmarked for global expansion efforts, improving the company’s ability to cater to international clients, and supporting the scaling up of Paptic’s foam-based manufacturing technology.
Paptic intends to tap into the sizable annual international flexible packaging market, valued at EUR 200 billion, with a particular focus on expanding its presence in Europe and accelerating growth in Asia. The overarching goal is to address environmental concerns by offering sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging.
“We are very pleased to have closed this investment in Paptic. We have been closely monitoring the company’s progress and the success the Paptic team has had in new product development and work with leading global brands. This all forms a solid base for on-going success and this additional financing will help accelerate its growth”, said David Walker, Senior Partner at UB FIGG.
“Paptic is working at the cutting-edge of packaging, taking a novel approach to solving the huge and growing problems inherent in the current industry,” says Emerald Partner Fredric Petit. “Our investment is a mark of confidence in Paptic’s ability to play a vital role in helping to reduce waste and improve consumer value in packaging.”
“The EIC Fund has established itself as a strong force in EU deep-tech investments. This unique form of financing via EIC – combining grants and equity – is proving itself highly attractive to Europe’s most promising start-ups. We hope that our investment will help Paptic to accomplish their objective of replacing plastics and other conventional materials in packaging, which is also one of the EU Green Deal’s objectives”, said Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board.
“Now that the financial round is officially closed, we are excited to focus on the next stages of our future growth. We have the ambitious goal to reach EUR 100 million in revenue in 2026. The new capital raised during the past year puts us in a strong position to invest in our people, sales channels, and product development. Our growth is based on our ability to competitively serve international brand owners who are seeking sustainable alternatives to replace plastics in their packaging”, Tuomas Mustonen, CEO and Co-Founder of Paptic, concludes. “Our goal has been to broaden our shareholder base with international investors, and this second closing accomplishes that objective. I am very satisfied with the result.”
The international flexible packaging market size is estimated to be over EUR 200 billion annually, with 70 percent of the materials currently used being plastics. Thin plastic films could be replaced with wood fibre-based and recyclable at-scale Paptic® materials in numerous applications. In the upcoming years, Paptic will concentrate on strengthening its presence in Europe and accelerating its growth in Asia. The company’s unique contract manufacturing business model enables rapid capacity increase, and the new financing will also speed up the industrial scale-up of Paptic’s foam-based manufacturing technology.
The company’s growth strategy is supported by forecasts showing that the amount of packaging will continue to increase due to economic and population growth. Without new innovative fibre-based solutions, like Paptic, a large part of the growth would come from plastic. To reduce the use of fossil-based materials in packaging, the use of resource-efficient materials that are both recyclable at scale and made from renewable raw materials is the choice. Additionally, these materials should be compatible with the existing recycling streams, for example, Paptic® materials are recyclable with cardboard and packaging papers. The materials are also a solution in the future, as they comply with the upcoming EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
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