MassChallenge

Nature Knows is a provider of fresh, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables, specializing in innovative and eco-friendly packaging solutions. The company focuses on delivering plant-based snacking and meal options, ensuring convenience and quality for consumers seeking healthy food choices. By utilizing breathable packaging, Nature Knows enhances the freshness and longevity of its products, aligning with sustainable practices while catering to the growing demand for nutritious, on-the-go meals.

Jericoo Good Ethics is a sustainable online supermarket in Mexico, delivering fresh organic products to your door, in zero-waste packaging.

Grain4Grain is a San Antonio-based food-tech startup that has developed an innovative process to dry and mill brewers spent grain into low-carb, high-protein flour. This sustainable ingredient is produced affordably by reducing the drying time from six hours to under twenty minutes. Since its launch ten months ago, Grain4Grain has upcycled 120,000 lbs of wet spent grain and launched two consumer products in nearly 200 stores.

B’ZEOS specializes in developing seaweed-based packaging solutions, offering industries a sustainable alternative to combat single-use plastics and reduce their carbon footprint.

Outlander Materials is a manufacturer focused on addressing the challenges posed by single-use plastics through its innovative product, UnPlastic. This biodegradable alternative is crafted from food industry sources, including by-products and brewery waste, ensuring that it remains functional and compostable without breaking down into harmful micro- or nano-plastics. Designed for food and packaging applications, UnPlastic offers businesses a sustainable option that not only reduces plastic waste but also contributes to minimizing food waste. By providing a circular solution, Outlander Materials aims to transform the packaging landscape and promote environmentally responsible practices.

FlexSea specializes in the development of innovative biomaterials sourced from renewable marine resources, specifically seaweed, to create sustainable packaging solutions. The company focuses on producing compostable biopolymer materials that serve as alternatives to conventional plastic film packaging. These materials are designed to degrade within weeks and can break down in various environments, including marine, soil, and home-composting settings. By providing environmentally friendly packaging options, FlexSea enables clients to maintain product freshness and safety while minimizing environmental impact.

SGMA specializes in coatings & advanced materials using Sol-gel process. It develops practical, sustainable solutions for today’s global problems. SGMA’s technology platform has a wide range of applications. The first area we are aiming to address is that of food packaging. The company is actively engaged in a program to help Starbucks, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Yum! Brands and the World Wide Fund for Nature. SGMA’s Technology Platform provides a quickly scalable solution to address the zero-plastic goal with a potential cost reduction, as the solution is delivered via a mono-material which is 100% recyclable. It has applications beyond the initial coffee cup solution, being able to address trays, boxes, and beyond. The company is led by CEO Dr Fanya Ismail and was founded in 2017.

Ponera Group develops modular industrial packaging systems designed to replace single-use wooden pallets and crates with reusable, digitally enabled alternatives. Its solutions are configurable to create the required box size by attaching components from any direction, enabling high-load, heavy-duty cargo handling. The company aims to support a circular economy in freight transportation by reducing environmental impact, improving operational efficiency, and enabling manufacturers, logistics providers, and industrial shippers to use reusable packaging throughout the supply chain.

Candam is a technology company in the waste management solutions sector developing real-time packaging material recognition and waste sorting technology. It has developed a patented Smart Ring that identifies all types of packaging materials using acoustic techniques and AI, enabling more accurate waste sorting and efficient collection. The company also offers a waste management platform that uses secure acoustic edge AI for smart containers to increase recycling rates, support the circular economy, and address plastic waste in urban environments, with applications including pharmaceutical waste management.

Radial Biomateriales, established in 2018 and headquartered in Zapopan, Mexico, specializes in the production of biodegradable packaging and related products. The company innovatively utilizes agro-industrial waste to create these eco-friendly solutions, targeting applications in packaging, industrial design, and interior design.

Aeropowder Ltd is a London-based company founded in 2016 that specializes in developing and manufacturing sustainable materials from poultry feather waste. The company aims to create a new value chain by utilizing the approximately 10 million tons of feathers generated annually. Its flagship product, Pluumo, is an innovative thermal packaging material designed to outperform traditional expanded polystyrene, particularly in temperature-sensitive deliveries such as food and pharmaceuticals. Aeropowder's materials are made from keratin proteins, which provide water repellency and thermal and acoustic insulation. The company's mission is to harness the potential of the circular economy by enabling the local production of high-performance materials wherever feathers are available, thus promoting environmental sustainability in both the creation and disposal of its products.

Mi Terro is a pioneering company that manufactures eco-friendly packaging materials derived from agricultural waste. Utilizing advanced material science, they create ocean degradable and home compostable flexible packaging solutions for various applications such as fresh produce, food, fashion, cleaning products, and standard packaging. Their innovative process transforms agricultural byproducts into protein-based materials, replacing petroleum-based plastics while reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Obaggo Recycling includes segregating clear, brown, and green glass; sorting paper from periodicals, and crushing aluminum cans to make them denser for storage. All clean or dry polyethylene bags and packaging films were recycled.

kaiosID is a cloud-based traceability solution that offers brands a method to combat counterfeiting and grey market issues through the use of unique hidden patterns on product packaging. These patterns function as fingerprints for each product and can be easily verified using a smartphone. The company's technology integrates seamlessly into existing production, packaging, and logistics processes without the need for additional hardware, making it a straightforward and effective traceability solution. By enabling brands to track their consumer goods securely, kaiosID helps protect brand reputation while providing valuable theft prevention analytics.

Fresh Strips is a smart packaging company that provides low-cost solutions to safeguard heat-sensitive foods. Its main offering is a plastic color-changing sticker attached to packaging that responds to heat exposure, indicating whether the contents are safe to consume. This visible indicator helps consumers quickly assess whether food has been mishandled or spoiled, supporting product quality, safety, and reducing waste.

Magnomer is a Boston-based manufacturer specializing in innovative magnetic inks designed to enhance the recyclability of plastic packaging within a circular economy framework. Founded in 2017, the company has developed a product called Design2Recycle™, which serves as a design tool for consumer brands and manufacturers. This technology incorporates printable magnetizable inks that improve the recyclability of multi-layer plastics without necessitating changes in existing manufacturing processes. By offering coatings for inks used in such packaging, Magnomer enables recycling facilities to more effectively separate these materials using magnetic sorting technology, addressing the challenges posed by traditional recycling methods.

Cleancult produces eco-friendly cleaning products, focusing on sustainable packaging and natural ingredients. Their laundry detergents are non-toxic, allergy-friendly pods designed to encourage a shift from single-use plastics.

Stokes Firestarters specializes in manufacturing all-natural, non-chemical fire starters made from recycled pulp, wax, and sustainably harvested wood sawdust. The company emphasizes environmentally friendly practices by utilizing only natural materials, ensuring a safe and reliable way to ignite fires. Initially created as holiday gifts using household materials, Stokes Firestarters has grown significantly and is now available in over 300 retail locations across eight states, including prominent retailers such as Whole Foods, Market Basket, Stop and Shop, and Shaws. The fire starters are designed for use with wood and charcoal, providing effective ignition with just one match. Stokes Firestarters are produced in Natick, Massachusetts, in collaboration with Charles River Industries.

Archer Roose is a global wine brand dedicated to making wine more accessible via innovative packaging like cans and kegs. They focus on sustainability and transparency, offering artisan-quality wines at affordable prices.

Rayform SA is a Swiss company specializing in innovative light redirection technology that enables unique design possibilities for luxury products and packaging. Founded in 2016 and based in Ecublens, the company employs a proprietary computer algorithm to calculate the three-dimensional surfaces necessary for creating target images from light. By modifying the shape of transparent or reflective surfaces according to the algorithm's specifications, Rayform's technology redirects incoming light to produce clear and detailed images on adjacent surfaces. This capability not only enhances the visual appeal of consumer products but also aids artists, designers, and brands in crafting memorable experiences while providing a means to combat counterfeiting.

Tripzon is a packaging and booking platform that helps its users plan and book complex tours. The platform offers multiple destinations, component filtering, trip design services, and a single transaction checkout. It provides a smart itinerary system for flights, hotels, activities, cars, transfers, and other travel components. Tripzon was launched in 2008 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Starching introduces starch plastic products to the market with structural properties superior to the competition. The first product we manufacture will be loose fill packaging foam. Through simple processes and with inexpensive and fully renewable raw materials we are able to manufacture starch plastic products which offer resistance to moisture while maintaining the critical property of 100% biodegradability.

Boxologic is a manufacturer specializing in custom packaging solutions designed to optimize space and reduce waste in e-commerce shipping. By utilizing advanced robotic technology, the company creates right-size boxes that minimize void space, significantly decreasing the need for filler materials and improving cargo efficiency. This innovative approach addresses the common issue of excessive void space in shipping, which can lead to increased costs associated with filler use, corrugated cardboard, and transportation. Through its tailored packaging, Boxologic enables e-commerce businesses to lower their logistics expenses and contribute to more sustainable practices by reducing material waste.