Pulpac enters restructuring after $36M raise fails to speed plastic shift

What's the deal? Gothenburg-based impact company Pulpac is entering a company restructuring after failing to pay its due debts, according to Impact LoopDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The company had developed a technology that moulds products from cellulose fibre to replace single-use plastic, licensing it to packaging makers.

The numbers: Pulpac raised 340 million kronor (about $36 million) in a round backed by Stora EnsoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Amcor VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, plus a 65 million kronor loan from the European Investment Bank. Last year it posted an operating loss of 117.6 million kronor on net revenue of 52 million kronor.

Why now? In its restructuring application, Pulpac says it cannot pay its due liabilities, including both supplier and long-term debts. Chief executive officer and founder Linus Larsson Green blamed a slower-than-expected market shift.

"The background to the restructuring is that the market transition towards sustainable fibre-based packaging solutions has gone more slowly than we previously calculated," Larsson Green told Impact Loop (translated from Swedish).

The layoffs: Roughly 50 of Pulpac's 70 employees have been given notice — about 71% of the workforce. The company now plans to find a new owner to carry it until licensing revenue arrives, which it hopes will happen in 2027.

The signal: Pulpac's stumble shows how hard it is to time a market transition, even with major industrial backers and public financing behind a technology built to replace single-use plastic.

Image credit: PulPac