Israeli Startup TIPA Bags US$4M For Its Compostable Flexible Food Packaging

TIPA, an Israeli startup developing sustainable packaging solutions, has just raised US$4 million from the Millennium Food-Tech, a Tel Aviv-listed investment vehicle. The company’s breakthrough material innovation technology offers a compostable packaging solution for food that can replace existing difficult-to-recycle flexible plastic films on the market. 

Securing US$4 million from Millennium Food-Tech, which came shortly after the investment firm saw one of its portfolio companies SavorEat debut as the first publicly listed 3D-printed plant-based meat startup on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, TIPA has now brought its total funding to an impressive US$53 million. 

It earlier raised US$27 million from a number of high-profile investors in a funding round completed 18 months ago, which saw participation from Blue Horizon Ventures, U.S. media giants the Hearst family, GreenSoil and Li Ka-shing’s Horizon Ventures.

Founded in 2010 by Daphna Nissenbaum and Tal Neuman, TIPA says that the investment comes as consumer demand for sustainable packaging solutions is reaching new highs. The company manufactures its proprietary compostable packaging that is compatible with food products, which degrades and decomposes like organic waste in both home and industrial compost facilities. It also offers non-food compostable packaging such as zipper bags and polybags for the fashion industry.

In recent years there has been a growing storm over the heavy price we are paying for use of plastic, stemming from the products sold by the polluting plastic industry, which has been growing exponentially in recent decades and irreversibly damaging the environment.

Daphna Nissenbaum, Co-Founder & CEO, TIPA

“In recent years there has been a growing storm over the heavy price we are paying for use of plastic, stemming from the products sold by the polluting plastic industry, which has been growing exponentially in recent decades and irreversibly damaging the environment,” explained Nissenbaum, co-founder and CEO of TIPA. 

Read: These 6 sustainable packaging startups are solving plastic waste 

“Over the years, TIPA has developed sophisticated packaging technology, which imitates the way that nature packages. TIPA’s packaging provides identical specifications to conventional plastic required for food packaging, while at the same time is designed with a solution for disposal after it is used – the packaging becomes compost within a few months: a clean, sustainable, and highly valuable resource.” 

Commenting on the latest capital injection, Nissenbaum said that Millennium’s “vote of confidence” will help accelerate the startup’s mission to transform the existing packaging market, which she noted was already underway amidst the growing pressure that consumer goods giants like Nestlé and PepsiCo are now under clean up their act and transition into more sustainable packaging solutions. 

Retail and foodservice chains are also responding to the demand, with the likes of Walmart trialling edible plastic-free food packaging developed by Apeel and Tesco, Burger King and McDonald’s all announcing partnerships with circular reusable packaging platform Loop. 

We believe that the packaging market will undergo a complete transformation and switch from plastic packaging to biodegradable or recyclable packaging, with the assistance of products that TIPA is already selling and which is exactly in the right place to be dominant in this market.

Chanan Schneider, CEO & Managing Director, Millennium Food-Tech

Millennium says that this demand has only grown even more amidst the coronavirus pandemic, which has spotlighted the need to address global environmental issues and preserve nature in order to prevent future health crises, given scientists’ warnings about the link between planetary and human health.

“Even in 2020, despite the Covid-19 crisis, [TIPA] has succeeded in significantly increasing its sales and its growth,” said the investment firm in its announcement. 

Chanan Schneider, CEO and managing director of Millennium, added: “We believe that the packaging market will undergo a complete transformation and switch from plastic packaging to biodegradable or recyclable packaging, with the assistance of products that TIPA is already selling and which is exactly in the right place to be dominant in this market.”

All images courtesy of TIPA.