Singapore accelerator targets packaging industry

Packaging has taken on greater importance as an area of technological R&D as e-commerce expands into a high-volume industry. The understanding is that, with scale, even subtle improvements in materials and delivery processes can be economically meaningful.

E-commerce as a percentage of total retail sales worldwide grew from 13.8% pre-pandemic to 19.7% last year and is set to hit 24% in 2026, according to Statista. McKinsey & Company estimates e-commerce penetration is already around 30% in Indonesia and Singapore.

The accelerator, AD Stretch, was designed and launched by Avery and Highline Beta, a Canada-based venture studio and VC firm focused on helping large corporates with innovation. Areas of interest include reducing packaging waste, improving customer experience, and enhancing supply chain resilience.

There has been significant progress in the past two weeks, with nine start-ups showcased in an inaugural demo day that attracted more than 100 members of the local business community and start-up ecosystem. A second cohort is already being organised around the themes of making consumer packaged goods smarter, “packaging 2.0,” and sustainability.

Start-ups in the programme include Switzerland-based CollectID, which is developing box tags that use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to authenticate deliveries with the tap of a smart phone. There is also Poland’s Makegrowlab, which manufactures home compostable packaging materials, and Australia’s Cellr, which makes smart phone scannable wine bottle labels.

Singapore’s StaTwig uses blockchain to solve supply chain failures such as counterfeiting, black-marketing, and stockouts. It is currently focused on the food and pharmaceutical industries and piloting products via the accelerator in Latin America.

“We want to inspire more of such collaborations between large corporates and Singapore-based start-ups, which are vital to the development of relevant, cutting-edge innovations that have the potential for commercialisation and impact,” Emily Liew, an assistant CEO at EnterpriseSG, said in a statement.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
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• Early-stage
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• seed
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• e-commerce