Working in sales, Natasha was a daily witness of the constant trash problems happening right outside her corporate office window. The sight is a familiar one, not only in Oslo but anywhere in the world: Trash cans and containers outside retailers and postal offices are over flowing with packaging materials. It is the perfect representation of what’s gone wrong in our increasingly wasteful global society.
Natasha decided it was time for action, and saw little reason why she – a talented sales person – couldn’t be the one to start it all. There were only two issues: She had no experience with manufacturing, and beyond a home-sewn prototype for a reusable mailer bag, she didn’t know how to take the next step. Secondly, there was the ‘small’ issue of coming up with a viable return system for the bags, so they could be returned after each use. The latter is no easy task, and it’s a problem which several companies and startups have attempted to crack for years.
Natasha found Alvin through his consulting firm New England, specializing in sustainable production. Owned by Pinecone Ventures, Dammann Leer’s private impact venture firm, New England was tasked with prototyping and scaling the reusable mailer bag for mass production in a sustainable way. The result was a 100% recycled polyester packaging, durable enough to last 50-100 reuses. The Abbas-Leer collaboration went so smoothly, it was mutually decided they should work on this concept together. Alvin soon joined as co-founder and CEO, with Pinecone Ventures 49% stakeholder.
For the following months, hard work and an incredible pace of growth awaited. Multiple partnerships with billion dollar companies have been established, pilot customers onboarded, and an innovative return system based on innovative technology has been developed through a few too many 14-hour workdays – and some invaluable help from government grants and a membership in the renown incubator Kjeller Innovation. The rest is history, in the making. In 2022, Packoorang will roll out its first pilot in Oslo, Norway with several European cities due to roll out next.
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