one • fıve takes on sustainable packaging, raises €10 (point) 5 million

Hamburg-based one • fıve (that’s one point five) has raised €10.5 million in a seed funding round. Founded by former Infarm CFO Martin Weber, and former head of business strategy at Infarm, Claire Hae-Min Gusko, the startup is working in the field of biomaterials and aims to accelerate the transformation of the packaging industry.

With world packaging demand expected to balloon to $1.22 trillion by 2026, one • fıve’s raison d'être is to make the world a better place for all of us, one package at a time. The startup is specifically going at it through the discovery and commercialisation of biomaterials that, according to the company, can reduce carbon emissions, “by up to 76%”.

“We believe the right material solution already exists; the problem is, it’s not ready for the market. Our machine learning platform discovers and assesses biomaterial innovations slumbering in research institutions. The team then transforms the most attractive solutions into market-ready products the industry will accept,” says Gusko.

Beginning with, “high-performance, functional coatings for paper-based packaging solutions”, one • fıve says that things are well underway in accomplishing this goal with a sales pipeline that, “contains over 40 million square metres of materials from partnerships with leading FMCG brand owners and packaging converters.”

In so much, one • fıve is specifically targeting the Asian market with its solution to what Reuters’ Unilever’s Plastic Playbook cited as, “a global waste crisis…littering neighbourhoods, jamming garbage dumps, choking waterways and harming wild creatures,” the single-use, non-recyclable, multi-layer sachet. Quite simply put: one-time-usage containers of condiments, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.

"As market pioneer in sustainability, we want to introduce the next generation of highly functional materials, tailor-made for our brands and international customers," commented Michael Durach, CEO of Develey Senf & Feinkost, one of Europe’s leading condiment suppliers.

one • fıve’s €10.5 million seed funding round was led by a syndicate of investors including Planet A Ventures, Speedinvest, Green Generation Fund, Climentum Capital, Revent, and WEPA Ventures amongst undisclosed “others”.