Ukrainian eco-startup Releaf Paper, which produces paper from fallen leaves, received a grant for €2.5 million from the European Commission (EC) for the construction of the first factory.
In 2022, the project became the winner of the EC grant program for small and medium-sized innovative companies EIC Accelerator 2022, reports Forbes Ukraine.
The authors emphasized that the total cost of the construction of the factory reaches €3.5 million, and the rest of the amount – €1 million – Releaf Paper plans to raise in the form of a loan from one of the French banks.
The material noted that startup is considering locations for future production in France, Finland and Ukraine. In addition, the startup received recommendations for further investments from the European Commission for two more factories with a total amount of at least €8 million. They must be approved separately. Germany and Poland will be the likely locations.
Eco-startup Releaf Paper was founded in 2020. The technology of making paper from fallen leaves was invented by Valentin Frechka, a 17-year-old schoolboy from Transcarpathia at the time. He launched the company together with a business partner in May 2021.
"Releaf Paper does not have its own production – at first the paper was produced at the facilities of the Zhytomyr cardboard plant, currently - at the Lutsk cardboard plant. The startup has not yet reached industrial production volumes," the authors said.
The material noted that currently among the customers of Releaf Paper in Ukraine are L'Oreal, Samsung, Weleda, Schneider Electric. In September 2022, the startup launched sales in Europe - products manufactured in Ukraine are shipped to customers from a warehouse in Slovakia. However, sales volumes are small, mostly test orders. In Ukraine, the startup works only with existing pilot clients.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, the Ukrainian startup company Re-leaf started selling its paper products that it makes from fallen leaves.
