OLDS — An entrepreneur told an audience in Olds that her company can make biodegradable alternatives to plastics and other products from food and plant waste – even gum.
The presentation by Kumu Corporation founder Rebecca Ung of Calgary was one of 17 made during the first DiscoveryLab@AgSmart Pitch, held last month in the Werklund Agriculture & Technology at Olds College.
“At Kumu, we turn farm foods, plants and minerals into bioplastic alternatives – literally food like seaweed, fruit peels and gum,” Ung told the audience of about 120 people, plus many watching online from around the world.
The company’s website shows photos of films, foam and coatings as well as alternatives to leather, paper and vinyl.
“There is a potential for extraction from waste that would help with the supply chain issue,” Ung said.
She said that the global bioplastics packaging market was an estimated $15.6 billion two years ago and is expected to hit $58 billion by 2032.
“We create the formulas, the manufacturers test the prototype with their clients. If product, production and pricing are all good, the manufacturer has a new product they can sell and we get paid,” Ung said.
“We use a tiered licensing subscription model. As their production volume grows, we grow with them. They pay a monthly flat rate that only changes when their production model hits the next tier.
“That actually simplifies accounting, making the current revenue protection easy for us and the licensing costs predictable for the manufacturer.”
Ung said a key aspect of the company is to provide consumers full transparency of a product’s composition, similar to food labels.
She said her company offers manufacturers the option to partner on marketing the products or they can market the products on their own.
Ung described herself as a generalist with a background in microbiology, as well as engineering, marketing and franchise development.
“Because all of these materials or items are actually made from the same biopolymers and additives, really, there’s no reason why I can’t change the form. And what I’m customizing are the features and applications,” Ung said.
“Let’s go change the single-use plastic landscape together, shall we?”
