By Alexis Wells

Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, which began operations last summer, designs and makes molded fiber packaging products using wood pulp sourced mainly from Maine woods.

The company is led by Melissa LaCasse, who secured $3.2 million in pre-seed funding and utilized her skills in distribution, business development and strategic planning to position Tanbark for success. After going through the Roux Institute, in the past year, the business established a manufacturing site in Saco.

LaCasse says, “When it comes to funding and overall support, I cannot say enough about Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, which showed up in a big way.”

She says Maine Angels, Maine Venture Fund, the Roux Institute, Coastal Enterprises Inc. and the University of Maine “provided us with the foundation and scaffolding to get started.”

"FAME awarded us a $1 million direct loan and a $594,000 loan through the Grow Maine program. MTI approved financing totaling $500,000. We’re also really proud of our work with Luke’s Lobster, who piloted a program with us and will transition to using our products exclusively for their custom takeout containers this fall.

We’re also knee-deep in market testing and prototyping materials. We continue to pinch ourselves daily that we’re up and running and in full production.

Our focus this year centers on growth, beginning with a Series A raise. We also plan to hire additional design staff and a robust sales force to shift our efforts from inbound to outbound sales to put Maine back on the map for molded fiber.

We look forward to expanding our facilities with a line of sight for building a much larger facility at a legacy mill site in rural Maine.

Once again, Maine’s entrepreneurial community stepped up for us time and time again, helping us navigate challenges and stay on course."

What it does: Designs and manufactures non-plastic packaging solutions

Employees: 12

Founded: 2021

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