Expanded-polystyrene foam creates persistent plastic waste in protective and cold-chain packaging.
R&D Focus
Bio-based foams, chitin materials and compostable protective packaging.
Innovative Solution
Converts chitin and other bio-based inputs into molded protective foam designed to replace petroleum-based packaging foam.
Solution Effectiveness
A company case study reports maintaining cold-chain temperature for more than 48 hours and exceeding relevant ISTA shipment-testing requirements.
Investment Funding
Last Funding Stage
Series A
Total Funding Amount
$23.5M
Last Funding Amount
$18M
Last Funding Date
10/28/2022
Startup Stage
Growth Stage
Lead Investors
QB3, La Maison des startups, Climate Capital, Course Correction Capital, Helena Special Investments
People
Founders
John Felts Ph.D
Xiaolin Zhang Ph.D
Marco Rolandi
CEO
John Felts
About
Cruz Foam is a developer of sustainable foam plastic materials
Products
Product
Cruz Foam block-and-brace, cold-chain, wine and custom protective packaging.
Star Product
Cruz Foam protective bio-foam, because it is the core compostable replacement for conventional foam.
Demo Product or Complete Product?
Complete commercial packaging products.
Future Plan
Market Expansion
Scaling production and distribution for cold chain, consumer goods, electronics and industrial protective packaging.
Investment Funding
$1 million NSF Phase II award announced in 2021; the company also raised a $1.2 million financing round in 2020.
Awards and Recognitions
Awards
Global Seafood Alliance Innovation Award 2022; TIME Best Inventions 2023; Bronze Pentaward 2023; Fast Company Most Innovative Companies recognition 2024.
Participations
LVMH innovation accelerator, 2023-2024.
Certifications
Tested to ASTM D6400 and ASTM D5338 compostability methods; product-specific certifications vary.
M&A and Collabs
Collab
Atlantic Packaging: commercialization and new sustainable protective-packaging products.
Collab
Amazon Robotics and Unified2: packaging development and validation programs.
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