German Startup Bags $15.5M to Bring Tech-Led Reusable Food Packaging to the US

Based in Cologne, Vytal Global has raised €14.2M ($15.5M) in growth funding to fuel the expansion of its reusable food packaging solutions.

German eco packaging startup Vytal Global has secured €14.2M ($15.5M) in investment to scale its operations across Europe and enter the US market.

The company has just secured €8M ($8.7M) from Inven Capital and NRW.Venture, adding to the €6.2M ($6.8M) it raised in a funding round last summer. It brings the company’s total venture capital raised to €26M, a sign of investors’ faith in its smart reusable packaging solutions that outperform single-use on cost.

“This new funding comes less than nine months after our last raise and reflects an incredibly successful 2024 for the Vytal team,” said Vytal co-founder and managing director Tim Breker. He added that Inven Capital’s expertise would allow the firm to scale up and “make tech-enabled reusable packaging the new standard in gastronomy, events, and entertainment globally”.

Taking on single-use plastic

Founded in 2020 by Josephine Kreische, Fabian Barthel, Sven Witehöfft, and Breker, Vytal utilises data analytics to deliver cost-effective solutions to single-use plastic packaging for a range of businesses.

Its business model combines reusable products with smart tech and “seamless service”, with integration into multiple point-of-service (POS) systems, adaptable operations, a fair pay-per-use pricing system, and a large selection of containers.

These include microwaveable bowls in several sizes; burger, pizza and sushi containers; cutlery; and coffee cups. They’re made from materials like polypropylene, thermoplastic elastomers, and/or stainless steel, depending on the product.

So while the company is providing an alternative to single-use plastic, it doesn’t ditch plastic altogether, arguing that the “key difference lies in the circular system”. “Single-use plastic has a short usage span but a long lifespan, taking 20 to 450 years to decompose. That’s why we rely on our reusable system: the plastic has a much longer life cycle and is fully recycled at the end of its ‘life’,” the company says on its website.

Plastic production is responsible for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions – this share is higher than the aviation sector, and is set to double by 2060. Meanwhile, over 90% of plastic pollution comes from single-use products. And to make things worse, only 9% of plastic the world over actually gets recycled.

“Today’s packaging solutions, especially single-use plastic packaging, are unnecessarily energy- and resource-intensive compared to smart reusable packaging solutions,” said Kristyna Machova, investment director at Inven. “We value Vytal’s innovative use of data and technology as a key differentiator, fostering a circular economy where reusable packaging is cost-competitive as well as superior in user experience.”

Vytal looks to go global with big partnerships

In the space of five years, Vytal has employed a successful tech licencing platform to create a network of subsidiaries across Europe, and says it is servicing 7,000 partners in 24 countries.

Last year, it expanded internationally and added franchise partners in Albania, Greece, the UAE, and South Africa, and set up a dedicated business to serve global brands like PepsiCo, UEFA, and Live Nation’s Insomniac Festival Group, among others. This marked its expansion beyond hospitality into large-scale companies and events.

Now, it is taking its expansion journey even further, with a large portion of the new funds dedicated to taking the business into the US, while strengthening its foothold in Europe. The capital will also help enhance its technology and unlock new brand partnerships, building on the 19 million tonnes of packaging waste Vytal says it has diverted so far.

According to the UNEP, reusable packaging systems can provide a reduction of over 20% in total annual plastic leakage into the environment by 2040. Meanwhile, converting just 20% of single-use packaging to reuse models is forecast to be a $10B opportunity.

And consumers recognise this too, with 64% of Brits agreeing that reusable, refillable and returnable packaging models are more effective at cutting waste than recycling. Another poll suggests that 80% of consumers in the UK and the US believe we have a collective responsibility to reduce single-use plastics, with 57% worried about the amount of single-use plastic and unrecyclable materials in takeaway food and drink packaging.

This is putting the onus on businesses to greenify their packaging, putting firms like Vytal in the spotlight. In 2024, it nearly doubled its revenue, just as other eco-packaging companies like Notpla, Nfinite Nanotech, and Ionkraft all secured funding.

“We have been following the Vytal team and progress since the early days and are convinced that they are best positioned to reap the business opportunity of transforming the packaging industry towards circularity,” said Machova.