TemperPack Takes on Styrofoam with New Funding

by | Jan 11, 2019

This article is included in these additional categories:

TemperPack, a manufacturer of sustainable packaging products, has closed on $22.5 million Series B financing to advance its goal of taking on the single-use plastics market and “reducing the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills,” the company says.

TemperPack’s packaging products aim to replace single-use plastics such as Styrofoam. Its products are created using proprietary, bio-based materials, and the company’s rapid growth has continued even as the use of unsustainable packaging – driven by the rise of e-commerce food and life science cold chain logistics – has increased.

At any given moment, there are millions of products in transit packaged in single use plastic, TemperPack founders point out. In addition to being harmful to the environment, packaging waste represents one-third of all municipal trash and costs local governments billions of dollars to dispose of each year, the company claims.

TemperPack estimates that it has avoided 15 million pounds of carbon emissions and diverted 10 million pounds of plastic foam from landfills to date. Manufacturing ClimaCell, its proprietary insulating material, is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 97% compared to manufacturing comparable plastic foam.

 

Taking On Styrofoam

As cities like New York, Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington, DC, and, most recently, San Diego ban the use of styrofoam, TemperPack is well-poised for growth.

Styrofoam is an antiquated technology that not only damages the environment, but also damages brand reputation, says TemperPack cofounder and co-CEO Brian Powers.

“We’re in a race to become the market leader in sustainable thermal packaging and insulation that doesn’t harm the planet. It’s a multi-billion dollar category and it’s dominated by Styrofoam,” Powers told Forbes. “In order to win the market we need to move really quickly.”

Global packaging demand will grow steadily at 2.9% to reach $980 billion in 2022, according to Smithers Pira.

 

Funding for Growth

The $22.5 million brings TemperPack’s total funding to $40 million. The new funding is led by Revolution Growth, with other new investors Harbert Growth Partners, Arborview Capital and Tao Capital Partners, and with existing investor SJF Ventures also participating in the round.

TemperPack operates two factories in Virginia and Nevada and is rapidly expanding its reach in the pharmaceutical and food delivery industries. Pharma cold-chain logistics is expected to be a $16.6 billion industry by 2021, according to Forbes.

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This