This is one of Pittsburgh Inno's 10 Startups to Watch in 2023, with the rest of the list to be rolled out throughout the week. These budding enterprises have been selected following suggestions made by experts in the startup community and an evaluation by editorial staff at Pittsburgh Inno and the Pittsburgh Business Times. At the end of this week, a list of all 10 Startups to Watch in 2023 will be available to read online and will be featured in our weekly edition of the Pittsburgh Business Times.
DisSolves Inc.
About the company: DisSolves Inc. is a startup based in East Liberty that makes edible packaging for beverage pods designed to dissolve in water. The company can pack single-servings of powdered food products — like protein powder — in these sustainability-oriented, tasteless pods, which the startup said are healthy for people to eat and contain all-natural, plant-based ingredients. Customers just place their serving of choice in water, mix and enjoy. CEO Jared Raszewski founded the startup in 2018 and serves as its sole employee. DisSolves is currently raising funds and is almost halfway to a $500,000 round after raising $215,000 so far. The startup is pre-revenue and won Duquesne University’s 2022 New Venture Challenge. It also received funding from Richard King Mellon Foundation’s inaugural Social-Impact Pitch Competition for startup companies in 2022.
Why we’re watching: The startup is finalizing the commercial manufacturing of its packaging this year. It also has food and beverage brands signed up to use the packaging, and people will be able to see products on store shelves using DisSolves packaging soon.
What’s their vision for 2023: “With the official roll out of our packaging, DisSolves will begin supplying the hundreds of food companies that have contacted us to start using our packaging,” Raszewski said. “We will start replacing a significant amount of single-use plastic by commercially releasing our packaging and growing our team in Pittsburgh.”
