In collaboration with Highline Beta, a venture development firm, Avery Dennison has partnered with five selected startups in Asia-Pacific to launch pilots based on three themes - maximising consumer experiences, materials and packaging 2.0, and sustainable, responsible and efficient value chains.The startups were selected based on their innovations for the labels and packaging industry, proposed go-to-market strategies and their potential to scale their pilot with a global industry leader.

Anil Sharma, vice president and general manager, labels and graphic materials (Asia-Pacific) at Avery Dennison said, “We are delighted to see such strong interest from the startup world in our program, and to have been able to choose this exciting group of innovators from a talented applicant pool to help solve some of the challenges we face within Asia-Pacific.”

Anil Sharma, vice president and general manager, Avery Dennison

“We’re confident that the combination of our internal financial and innovation strength with the agility of start-up innovators is going to bring us to even greater heights in our efforts to improve efficiency in the supply chain, create the next generation of packaging and solve environmental challenges,” added Sharma.

The selected startups in Asia-Pacific are:

• CollectID: Piloting digital triggers in embellishments with a combination of encrypted, smartphone-ready NFC tags with secure, immutable non-fungible tokens ( NFT) to guarantee a product's authenticity with just a single tap on the smartphone.
• FL Technology: By combining polymer material science and plant physiology, the team has created a nanomaterial that can simultaneously remove ethylene and inhibit the growth of decay-causing bacteria, which is applied to the green storage of fruits.
• MakeGrowLab: Growing and utilising a new generation of materials and resources to replace fossil fuels in packaging, textile and others, and creating a solution that is durable and home-compostable as a great alternative to plastic-coated paper and foils.
• Varcode: An accessible solution to monitor time and temperature data without the use of batteries or electronics. The company boasts to improve safety, quality and sustainability of perishable products.
• Waste Labs: An AI platform that optimises expensive, inefficient waste and recycling logistics which enables manufacturers to produce more goods from recycled materials.

 
The AD Stretch program aims to catalyse and engage with the startup ecosystem across Asia-Pacific and Latin America in addressing sustainability challenges.