A new and significant round of capital will help Richmond startup TemperPack expand its flagship product line, ClimaCell, and commercialize at least one new product line, said CEO and co-founder Brian Powers.
TemperPack, co-founded in 2015 by Powers, James McGoff and Charles Vincent, closed on a $30 million funding round last month. The round was led by Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a specialty finance company headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.
“We’re looking at other pockets in the cold chain world where we can innovate and this capital will allow us to do that and scale up quickly,” Powers said.
ClimaCell, an insulation material that replaces Styrofoam coolers for use in shipping food and life sciences products, has spurred significant growth for TemperPack, especially in the last two years as Covid-19 increased demand for delivery services. Clients include HelloFresh and UPS Healthcare.
In particular, the funding will enable the company to expand its Las Vegas, Nevada, production facilities from one ClimaCell production line to two, matching the two production lines operating in Richmond.
As for the new product line, Powers wanted to keep the details under wraps for now.
“I’ll just say, it’s going to be the next big thing in packaging and insulation,” he said. “It’s going to rock the packaging and insulation world.”
The plan is to launch the new product line in 2022, he said.
“This really secures us for at least the next couple years of expansion,” Powers said.
In a news release, Horizon president Gerald A. Michaud commended TemperPack on its sustainable options.
“We are excited to support TemperPack as it continues to manufacture sustainable and fully recyclable cold chain packaging for an increasingly growing market,” he said.
Last August, TemperPack raised a $31.5 million Series C round. This most recent round brought the company’s total funding amount to more than $110 million.
To support its continued growth, TemperPack, which scored a spot on Forbes’ 2021 list of America’s Best Startup Employers earlier this year, is increasing its recruitment efforts in both Richmond and Las Vegas, Powers said.
“We’d love to hire faster and more,” he said.