Climate angels backs startups to promote alternatives to single-use plastic

New Delhi: Sunbird Straws a Bangalore based start-ups backed by the Zero Single-Use Plastic challenge (ZeSUP) to promote the alternatives to plastic straws at the onset of Single Use Plastic Ban.

ZeSUP challenge, launched by VC Fund Climate Angels to bridge the gap between innovation and established F & B partners intending to eliminate single-use plastics.

According to statement, the selected startups get project and fund from a pool of US$ 500,000, dedicated mentorship and technical assistance for the project.

“It provides support to innovative start-ups that are leading the fight against single-use plastic in the F&B industry, by providing them with an opportunity to connect with restaurants, cloud kitchens and other food outlets like Rebel Foods, The Beer Café, and Burger Singh” it said.

Talking about the initiative, Shailesh Vikram Singh, founder of Climate Angels said, “ZeSUP will greatly help start-ups overcome key challenges such as lack of collaborative industry partners, underdeveloped value chains, and complex policy and regulatory framework.

“Through ZeSUP, we will try to be a key factor in connecting innovative start-ups with F&B partners. This will further strengthen the single-use plastic ban as we eventually adopt alternatives to it”, he said

Founded by Saji Varghese in 2020, Sunbird Straws is the producer of environmentally friendly and long-lasting straws from naturally dried and fallen coconut leaves, reducing the consumption of paper and plastic straws.

Their in-house technology has managed to produce close to two hundred straws from a single coconut. “The company has been actively employing women in their production process creating women empowerment in villages” the company said.

Since July 1, the government has implemented a nationwide ban on single-use plastic straw manufacturers in India have been prohibited to produce single-use plastic straws in India.

“This ban has created many opportunities for companies to produce alternatives to plastic and paper straws” it said.