Traceless

Sock-hooks: The first traceless pilot in collaboration with fashion retailer C&A / Source: Traceless

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WHAT WE SAY:

Using plants to replace single-use plastics is a fast growing space. And the revolutionary team at Traceless revels in the competitive and communal spirit this represents.

Pushing the boundaries of regenerative and degenerative materiality, this female-founded, German-based company creates a novel biomaterial that can't be called a bioplastic, because it literally decomposes without a trace, giving it its name. We're particularly enamoured by the company's approach to local raw material sourcing, as well as its desire to help the plastics industry transition to a brighter future. Given the amount of investment and attention Traceless has received in such a short time, we're hopeful this future isn't far off.

Traceless forks for the food industry / Source: Traceless

ABOUT TRACELESS

Traceless was founded in Hamburg, Germany in September 2020 by Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare. In just over two years, the company has grown to include 26 people. Its motto - “For a future free of pollution and waste,” - is fitting because the company’s material innovation, also called Traceless, can be home composted, leaving no trace of material or toxin behind.
The company's USP is its drop-in alternative to single-use plastics, created with non-chemically modified natural polymers extracted from agricultural byproducts, such as brewery residue and starch production waste. The alternative, which comes in granulate form, will help the plastic, converting and packaging industries replace fossil fuel feedstock in their plastic producing machinery.
The material is 100% plastic free and compostable, and has been awarded the Flustix certificate, which guarantees plastic free composition. The material falls outside of the EU’s Single Use Plastic Directive.
As a company, Traceless is committed to doing everything as sustainably as it can, which is why it uses a side stream of agricultural plant processing that is locally available in high amounts and in many regions.
In recognition of its plastic free material and sustainability efforts, Traceless has already won, or been a finalist for many awards, including the German Startup Award 2022, the Deutscher Gründerpreis 2022, the Hamburger Gründerpreis 2022, the Wissenschaftspreis 2022 (Best Startup), and 1st place in Germany’s Top 50 Startup rankings for 2021.
With the awards, companies are taking notice. In December 2022, Traceless and European fashion retailer C&A launched the first consumer-facing Traceless pilot product, sock hooks for retail packaging.
The company is also working with German e-commerce company OTTO and aviation company Lufthansa on alternative solutions for plastic packaging.
As a women-founded startup, Traceless is in rare company. On average, only 2% of women-founded start-ups receive venture capitalist funding, yet the company has raised a total of EUR 2.8 million (USD 2.97 million) since 2021, including VC seed funding and a grant from the European Innovation Council, part of the Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator.
In May 2023, Traceless announced new funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) to help it scale-up its material. The EUR 5 million (USD 5.4 million) injection will be used to build a production plant in Hamburg.
In an interview with the Traceless team, one message was clear, "it’s not necessarily plastic itself that’s the problem, but the way we use it. Plastic is not the best solution for everything, and while we make Traceless there are so many other innovations and start-ups that are working on the same goal, there's no one company or material that's a solution for everything. If we can support each other, we can actually create this plastic waste free world."