Genera secures investment for its first facility to manufacture sustainable fibre products

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

Last week, Genera announced it has secured more than 118 M$ in new investment for its first manufacturing facility to produce its Earthable® line of sustainable agricultural fibre products. With this new investment, the company will able to meet the increasing demand for its environmentally conscious solutions with a truly “farm-to-table” concept.
Press release: “Genera Secures Investment for Sustainable Packaging and Fiber Products Made From Grass”, 17/7/2019.

Figure 1. Moulded fibre products made by Genera (take from its website)

Location
Vonore (Tennessee, USA).
TennEra LLC, an affiliate of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has leased its former biorefinery in Vonore to Genera for the development of the new manufacturing facility.
Feedstocks
Locally grown grasses and other agricultural crops.
Genera has already begun to work with local East Tennessee farmers to produce the feedstock and is actively seeking additional farm partners in the region.
Products
Compostable food service packaging products like plates, bowls and takeout containers.
In addition to making products that are a sustainable alternative to plastics, Genera’s Earthable® fibres are also used to produce a wide array of paper products.
Employment effect
80 new jobs.
The company will begin hiring in early 2020, including skilled operators and maintenance positions.
Even before the Vonore facility begins operations, overwhelming customer demand for its products has the company looking at options to increase production capacity at the Vonore facility potentially increasing total employment by 50%.
Financing
It was anchored by an equity investment from WindSail Capital Group, a growth capital investor specializing in sustainability and energy innovation. WindSail partnered with investors Coppermine Capital and Stairway Capital in the Genera financing.
Start-up
Genera’s fibre production facility is expected to be ready to deliver Earthable® products to the marketplace in 2020.

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