2021 - WHAT A YEAR!
We can’t believe 2021 is over already – it’s definitely a year we will remember… when it comes to traceless, for sure in a positive way! Not only are we getting closer and closer to bringing our materials to market, but we also achieved many other amazing things over the past year.
Are you ready for a virtual review of our most exciting moments in 2021?
FOLLOW OUR YEAR 2021..
JANUARY
VIRTUAL TEAM WEEKEND
The year started off great with our first online team-weekend! Among many other things, we took the time for an inspiring session about how to put our shared vision and mission into words.
FEBRUARY
INNORAMPUP
FUNDING
In February we received the news we would get ramped up - with a 150.000€ grant by IFB Innovationsstarter's InnoRampUp Program! For more info, click here!
FEBRUARY
PLUG & PLAY ACCELERATOR
We got to join globally renowed startup ecosystem Plug&Play. Their New Materials & Packaging Program brings together startups and companies solving the challenges of our time with new material solutions - and got us in touch with some big global customers.
FEBRUARY/MARCH
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
Of course we have continuously been working on optimizing our materials throughout the entire year. The product development has made important progress, for example with regard to our paper coating, and the heat-sealability of our materials.
MARCH
FASHION FOR GOOD ACCELERATOR
In March, we became a part of the FFG accelerator – not to design the next it-piece from traceless materials, but for many other potential use cases in the fashion industry, like packaging, hooks, price tag clips and many more!
APRIL
GREEN ALLEY AWARD
WINNER
No April fools’ joke, we actually won the Green Alley Award – our first award this year! Read more about how proud and happy we were to be selected as the winner of Europe's first prize for Circular Economy Startups in our blog post.
APRIL
SEED INVESTMENT ROUND
A big milestone for traceless happened in April! For our two founders Johanna Baare and Dr. Anne Lamp, but also for the rest of the traceless team…
We closed our Seed Investment Round! We found investors who don’t only support us financially, but also support our vision and mission. Who these investors are, and what we aim to achieve together? Read it in our press release PDF!
MAY
FIRST LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Did you know our impact investor Planet A conducted a consequential life-cycle assessment on traceless materials, and used it as decision criteria for their investment? The report scientifically quantifies our ecological impact potential on different indicators. In May, it got published on their website.
C-VOUCHER PRIZE
2nd PLACE
C-VoUCHER combines design and technology to support SMEs on their way towards circular economy. We were part of the program, and won the 2nd place in the category "Awards for Circular Business Cases" of their competition "We've gone circular".
JUNE
BIOPOLYMER INNOVATION AWARD 2nd PLACE
Wow, as only a young startup we won the 2nd place in the Biopolymer Innovation Award – such an amazing recognition of the market potential of our innovation!
FUTURE HAMBURG AWARD 2nd PLACE
...but that was not all, in June we also received a second award, this time from our hometown: We got 2nd in the Future Hamburg Awards – which is all about startups with ideas for the city of tomorrow.
RESPOND ACCELERATOR
WEEKEND
From Hamburg off to the south! 2021 was also the year in which we participated in RESPOND Accelerator.
One of the many highlights of this great program: The 4-day Responsibe Leadership Workshop taking place in the Bavarian Alps. Curious what Anne and Johanna learned about leading a start-up? Read our blog post!
AUGUST
TRACELESS TEAMWEEKEND!
Finally, we got the chance to see the whole team together in person, and what is a better place to do this than in the lovely Danish countryside? For more pictures and insights on how we've spent the weekend – check our blogpost!
MOVE INTO OUR
PILOT PLANT LOCATION
With all the interest in our material we have seen this year, we quickly need to scale-up our production capacities. Our first pilot production plant is the first step to maximize the amount of material we can bring to market - and thereby make the biggest possible impact!
In August we received the keys to our plant's location: It's at the ISI-Zentrum in Buchholz in der Nordheide near Hamburg!
SEPTEMBER
COOPERATION WITH OTTO
It's official: In September we announced our collaboration with OTTO. Together we aim to make e-commerce more sustainable - and be part of the solution, not pollution! More insights on what we are working on can be found in OTTO's Newsroom.
IMPACT FESTIVAL &
AWARD FOR HARDWARE SOLUTIONS
On the 16th of September we did not only attend our first physical fair (the Impact Festival), but we also won The Impact Festival Award for hardware solutions – all of this while celebrating another big milestone on that day...
...TRACELESS' FIRST
BIRTHDAY!
Yes, you've read that right: traceless only got founded a year ago, on the 16th of September 2020. Isn't it amazing how much our team, together with all the supporters from our network, has achieved in such a short time?
OCTOBER
EIC ACCELERATOR
FUNDING
Maybe our biggest news so far: We got accepted in the EIC Accelerator, and receive a 2.42 Mio. € grant from the European Innovation Council to quickly scale-up our production. Wow, we still cant believe it entirely if we are honest. What an amazing recognition of traceless' innovative nature and high potential!
RESPOND ACCELERATOR
FINAL EVENT
Remember the RESPOND Accelerator we talked about? Well, like all good things, also this one had to come to an end. But it was definitely a happy end! Taking place in Munich, the final event called RESPONDAYS was full of inspiring talks, valuable impressions and great encounters with all the people we got to know during the past months. Learn more here!
NOVEMBER
SCIENCE BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR 2021
Guess who got awarded the Falling Walls Venture Science Breakthrough of the Year? Yup, that would be us! Anne's smile as she receives the award on stage says more than a thousand words. We feel beyond honoured about this recognition for our hard work over the past year.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Another example of the many steps forward our development team has made: We now have our traceless film and coating also in a decolorised version! As much as we love the natural yellow colour of our material - for some use cases it's great to have a bit less coloured option.
DARBOVEN IDEE PRIZE
The Falling Walls was not all, we also got awarded with the Darboven IDEE prize in November. The award supports sustainable and promising, female-founded businesses from all economic sectors.
OFF TO A GREAT NEW YEAR 2022!
And that was it… for now at least! We're already looking forward to continue working full-speed on our mission in 2022.
What we have planned so far? Well to name a few, we have exciting pilot projects coming up with our customers, we will continuously optimize our materials for additional applications, produce first bigger amounts of our material in our pilot plant, and take the next steps to quickly scaleup our production with a bigger demonstration production plant.
For all the big and small steps on this way, we're happy to have you with us - as our supporters, partners, customers and friends. Thank you for joining our journey - together, we're part of the solution!
Your traceless Team