New Seattle-Based Tree-Free Toilet Paper Startup Gets High-Profile Investors
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New Seattle-Based Tree-Free Toilet Paper Startup Gets High-Profile Investors
While the days of empty shelves and panic buying are (hopefully) behind us amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one product has emerged as the most unlikely commodity of the year: toilet paper.
And a new Seattle startup is capitalizing on people's renewed appreciation of TP while also offering a more sustainable, eco-friendly alternative to the paper-based rolls you buy at the store.
Cloud Paper, a tree-free toilet paper startup based in Seattle, was started by University of Washington graduates Ryan Fritsch and Austin Watkins with the goal of giving people a way to lessen their environmental impact and end deforestation caused by tree-based paper products.
This week, the company raised $3 million in seed funding from a host of high-profile investors including "Shark Tank" entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Robert Downey Jr. and Goop's Gwyneth Paltrow.
"Cloud Paper is on a mission to end deforestation caused by traditional paper products," wrote the company. "Today, 20% of deforestation globally is due to tree-based toilet paper and paper towels.
The company offers monthly subscriptions boxes with their 3-ply bamboo-derived toilet paper with convenient delivery right to the customer's door. All packaging is recycled and plastic free, and even the delivery of the toilet paper is carbon neutral, keeping with their eco-friendly mission.
Bamboo is largely seen as a more sustainable alternative to paper made from trees as it is able to grow up to three feet per day and reaches harvest maturity in just three years. In comparison, trees take up to 30 years to grow back and mature.
And that certainly pays off for the planet: the company says that bamboo toilet paper generates 30% less greenhouse gas emissions compared its tree-based counterpart, and the average household would save 250 trees in their lifetime by switching to Cloud Paper.
The company, which is only about a year old, says it has seen an 800% increase in memberships this year, showing how something as ubiquitous as toilet paper can drive change during these strange times.
