Varden

About

Varden uses a containerized thermoforming process to convert sugarcane bagasse into molded, plastic-like paper packaging for coffee pods and medical blister packs; pilot plants produce 20M units annually.

Mission

Co-founded by Stuart Gordon and Mark Appleford, Varden has developed a thermoforming process that converts sugarcane bagasse into a molded, paper-like packaging material with the look and feel of plastic. The production system fits inside a 40-foot container and removes steps used by many bioplastic approaches. The founders began work in 2015 (initial laundry-room prototyping led to a small seed round) and have run pilots with customers such as Fisher & Paykel. Varden targets hard-to-replace items first, notably coffee pods, and estimates more than 20 billion pods are consumed annually. With new funding, the company will begin manufacturing at scale to meet pilot-customer demand and aims to expand its product line to include medical blister packs. A pilot plant on their product lines can generate about 20 million units a year.

Quick Facts