Company history/background
- The company (further named: TC) based in the Netherlands, was founded in 2017 with the aim to develop and commercialize a recyclable biobased fully bio-degradable water and non-carbonated soda bottle; called ‘The Natural Bottle’.
- TC has developed and successfully produced a first prototype 500 ML water bottle in 2022 made of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The company is now working towards building and commercializing a first full scale demonstration plant in Europe with an annual production capacity of 1 million bottles from its first pilot line in Q4 2023 and 21 million bottles per year at full commercial scale in 2026.
- Additionally TC envisions multiple production plants in different regions throughout the world through license agreements with several key stakeholders in the bottled water industry. This should result in a total annual production capacity of 150 million bottles by 2026.
Aim of this document is to facilitate TC’s upscaling and commercialization ambitions through the identification of TC’s key focus markets as well as customer segments in the global bottled water market.
Company activities
- In the short term the focus is thereby on the guaranteed offtake of its first demonstration plant in Europe with a production capacity of 1 million bottles by 2024. The first 250,000 bottles will be produced and invoiced in Q1, 2024. 21 million bottles will be produced at full scale in 2026.
- In the mid-long term TC foresees a total production capacity of 150 million bottles by 2026 through license agreements globally.
- Key focus markets for TC include countries and regions where it can make the highest possible impact with the introduction of The Natural Bottle as a sustainable alternative to conventional single-use plastic water bottles.
- Effectively this means countries and regions with poor and/ or inefficient waste management practices, where plastic leakage poses a significant threat to the environment and whereby plastic water bottles contribute substantially to plastic waste leakage. Special attention will be paid to plastic leakage into the marine environment due to the size of this global problem and the fact that PHA is distinctive when it concerns its highly biodegradability in various marine environments.
Unique selling points
- Markt:
In the short medium term the Mediterranean Sea region appears as the most significant key focus region for production offtake of its first European demonstration plant. The Mediterranean is considered the sixth greatest accumulation zone for marine litter worldwide. Holding 1% of the world’s waters, and concentrating 7% of all global microplastics. Each year, an estimated 0.57 million tons of plastic enters Mediterranean waters. Identified key focus countries include Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Spain, France and Greece. Combined these countries represent ~10% of global bottled water demand, approximately 73.5% of the region’s mismanaged plastic waste and over 75% of plastic waste leakage into the region’s marine environment.
Other
- TC has created a bottle that consists of natural material, directly from our nature to make our earth a more cleaner place. The contents of these natural materials, are bio-based and biodegradable, where its similar to the natural materials, such as cellulose, proteins and starch. Therefore, our product is created by an extensive variety of micro-organisms through bacterial fermentation. With in the process of fermentation, the bacteria converts different types of feedstock into a product of microbes material, which result into a natural polymer. This natural process can be developed in an industrial setting.
- Capital: : 800 K
- Focus on: Growth
- Exit: 5 years