True Gum Raises US$1.2M To Expand Its Plastic-Free Vegan Chewing Gum Line

Copenhagen-based startup True Gum has recently closed a €1 million (US$1.2 million) funding round, which will go towards further product development and expanding its distribution across international markets. True Gum’s flagship product is a plastic-free and plant-based chewing gum that is fully biodegradable and sugar-free. 

The financing was led by German venture capital fund Oyster Bay, a fund that specialises in consumer food products and led by Hamburg-based angel investor Christoph Miller. True Gum will be using the capital injection to ramp up product development and expand its marketing and distribution internationally, starting with Germany. 

True Gum is a company that is sustainable to the core, pioneering the chewing gum category with a product that is both plastic-free, plant-based and popular with modern consumers.

Christoph Miller, Founding Partner of Oyster Bay

“As a big fan of True Gum, it was a pleasure for Oyster Bay to close this investment. True Gum is a company that is sustainable to the core, pioneering the chewing gum category with a product that is both plastic-free, plant-based and popular with modern consumers,” said Miller, founding partner of Oyster Bay. 

Since its inception in 2017, the Danish startup has launched a variety of 100% plant-based, biodegradable, vegan-certified and plastic-free gums coming in unique flavours such as Mint & Matcha, Liquorice & Eucalyptus and Raspberry & Vanilla. Unlike conventional gums that contain plastic, True Gum’s line up is made with the sap harvested from gum trees called chicle, natural flavours, acacia gum and sweetened with stevia and xylitol. 

As the chicle is harvested without any trees being torn down, it is a sustainable resource that not only helps to conserve the forest but also supports local communities and farming cooperatives. With gum being the second most common form of litter in the world and responsible for generating 100,000 tonnes of global waste annually, the startup believes that the growing wave of conscious shoppers are in search of better alternatives. 

The demand for our plastic-free chewing gum is growing by the day, as consumers continue to move towards more sustainable food products.

Morten Ebdrup, CEO and Co-Founder of True Gum

“The demand for our plastic-free chewing gum is growing by the day, as consumers continue to move towards more sustainable food products,” explains Morten Ebdrup, CEO and co-founder of True Gum. “We want to make our chewing gum widely available in order to create [a] positive impact for our climate, and in Oyster Bay we have found a great partner for doing exactly that. Combining their local expertise with our product and brand will hopefully enable us to make an even bigger change.”

Looking ahead, the company shared that it will also be thinking about moving into adjacent product categories to launch more plastic-free and sustainable products on the market.

Other companies offering plastic-free solutions are also seeing greater capital injections in recent months as investors take note of the business opportunities to be made amid the growing sustainability trend. In May, eco-friendly personal care startup Nohbo secured US$3 million in a seed funding round to scale-up their manufacturing capacity for its water-soluble vegan soap pods, a major answer to the hospitality industry’s single-use toiletries and amenities. 

Lead image courtesy of True Gum.