Fedrigoni Acquires Minority Stake in Paper Coating Technology Firm, Papkot

Papkot's barrier technology achieves high resistance to water, grease, oil, or even glycerol, and also provides properties such as transparency or other tailored surface properties.

Feb. 27, 2025 - The Fedrigoni Group has acquired a minority stake in Papkot, a start-up that has developed surface treatment technology for paper through a cellulose molecular coating to replace plastic films.

Fedrigoni did not disclose the amount of the investment.

Fedrigoni's investment is in line with its venture capital program launched to identify industry-changing startups that are a proven, industrially scalable reality.

Papkot was founded in 2020 by Manuel Milliery, who is also the company's CEO. Papkot has research and development hubs in France and China and contract manufacturing partnerships in France, the U.S., and China.

According to Fedrigoni, Papkot's barrier technology achieves high resistance to water, grease, oil, or even glycerol, and also provides properties such as transparency or other tailored surface properties. Treated paper remains fully biodegradable, fully compostable, and fully recyclable.

"This investment has enormous potential for Fedrigoni," said Marco Nespolo, CEO of the Fedrigoni Group. "We will have the opportunity to acquire disruptive technology in Plastic-to-Fiber that will allow us to increasingly support our customers in their efforts to develop mono-material and fully recyclable packaging.

"Furthermore, Fedrigoni will play a key role in accelerating the industrialization phase, which is essential for the scalability of the Papkot business model," Nespolo added.

Founded in 1888 in Verona, Italy, Fedrigoni is a manufacturer of labels and self-adhesive materials, specialty papers for packaging and creative communication, and RFID solutions.

SOURCE: Fedrigoni