Cruz Foam enlists DiCaprio and Kutcher for $3.5M in greentech seed
Year 2022
Cruz Foam has created a sustainable alternative to Styrofoam, a plastic foam that is ubiquitous, harmful, and virtually immortal. It’s been a long time since we had a truly green, environmentally friendly substitute. The startup produces a packing foam that is durable and compostable in the backyard using shrimp shells from the seafood industry. The startup recently extended its seed funding to accommodate Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher and other investors. It is now scaling up in order to meet the needs of Whirlpool, its first major client.
John Felts, co-founder of Cruz Foam, was my first encounter with him at the Sustainable Ocean Alliance’s Accelerator At Sea. His pitch was perfect: Create a biodegradable foam alternative to expanded polystyrene using abundant natural materials.
Chitin is the material that makes up the shells on shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans, both in and outside of the ocean. It is tough and versatile, but like any living thing, it decomposes safely and quickly. The seafood industry produces it in huge quantities. There are no real uses for this material, so thousands and thousands of tons pile up outside of shrimp processing plants. The people are paying others to remove this waste.
Source:
Cruz Foam’s shell-based Styrofoam alternative brings in $3.4M seed with DiCaprio and Kutcher
