Erthos: The New Standard for Sustainability
In the past few years, policy and regulatory actions have begun to address the considerable environmental debts of a petroleum-dependent economy. Governments at all levels, from municipal to intergovernmental, have introduced legislation to improve plastic waste management, ban single-use items such as shopping bags and find alternatives to traditional plastic. Many such actions were initiated pre-COVID, before things like PPE and take-out became necessary realities of the pandemic.
Looking forward, it’s clear that bans of specific items will not be enough to curb the rampant production and consumption of plastic products. Instead, an emerging solution is the development of low-carbon, sustainable plastics. At Golden, we see a huge opportunity to support the change-makers that will facilitate the movement away from petroleum based plastics to plant-based, earth-friendly ones.
In 2018, at a CDL session, Nuha Siddiqui, Kritika Tyagi and Chang Dong, the co-founders of Erthos (then called EcoPackers), were considering this problem. They had developed a product (a packing peanut) that was made from completely plant-derived materials. To really drive that point home, Nuha snacked on those peanuts throughout our first conversation with Erthos (then called Ecopackers). We decided to lead the investment in their $4.3MM seed round shortly after, convinced that the passion, drive and scalable approach to the market combined with Nuha’s leadership as CEO would be a winning formula. Nuha has the unique ability to both manage operations and zoom out to see the big picture. It’s this macro lens that has driven Nuha’s team to develop a solution that has the largest possible impact on the planet — the development of multi-platform resins that can leverage the world’s existing plastic manufacturing value chain in a competitive way.
This redefined vision of a plant-powered future is the heart of Erthos. By bringing a solution to the manufacturing supply chain, Nuha and her team are executing on a mission to make plastics work for the planet. In Erthos, we see a manifestation of rising consumer and industry trends towards more sustainable alternatives. If you are working in this space as well, we would love to hear from you.
