Inuru, based in Berlin, Germany, has announced a € 2.3 Million Series-A funding round led by the Warsaw based venture capital fund ARIA. It will setup an automated production line to increase production capacities of its recyclable luminous packaging and labelling products. These are capable of lighting up, warning and displaying small animation and even contain videos, in future.
These Organic LED products fill the need of brands in the field of CPGs for a personalized brand experience and a better shelf visibility in retail and at home as the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market soars. Amongst Inuru’s customer are some of the most valuable brands worldwide, it says.
According to Georgi Blaskov, senior brand manager, Coca-Cola Bulgaria, “Coca-Cola has co-operated with Inuru twice recently. The first project was just before Christmas 2018. We wanted to surprise our employees from Central and Eastern Europe with a nice gift using technologically modern packaging solutions. Together we prepared the first ever Coca-Cola Christmas bottles with a glowing logo on the label, which went to employees for Christmas.”
“The second project concerned a partnership with Disney – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This time we cooperated on a much larger scale,” said Blaskov, “Inuru is brave, flexible and quickly adapts its activities to the needs of new projects. This product was a paper-thin label that, after being touched, revealed a glowing light sabre.” (See AIPIA newsletter 07/01/20)
The company believes its upcoming products will provide additional functionality, starting with animation on paper for marketing and supportive information such as signalling that the product is near its best before date, actively helping to reduce food waste.
“Our goal is to bring moving pictures on paper – just like in the Harry Potter movies and video and changing content on demand, without having to throw away resources, whether its packaging or paper or any other surface.“ says Marcin Ratajczak, Inuru’s cofounder and CEO.
The company aims to integrate full body displays into packaging, allowing change of content in real time. “Marketers will be able to change the content on packaging on demand without the need to print or coordinate the whole supply chain,“ explains cofounder and CTO, Patrick Barkowski.
“Unlike other market players who offer LEDs, we have focused on proprietary Organic LED technology, to make sure the product is recyclable and able to display video content in the future.“ added Barkowski.
“We have invested in Inuru for several reasons. They are already operating in a trillion dollar packaging market. They address very relevant needs of global brands, such as product visibility and brand identity. This perfectly fit a megatrend of personalized user experience while at the same time remaining eco-friendly,” said Dariusz Lewandowski, CEO of ARIA.
Source : AIPIA Newsletter
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