Nfinite nabs $4.6 million to prove it can make paper that performs like plastic

In layman’s terms, Kitchener-Waterloo-based advanced materials startup Nfinite wants to make “paper that performs like plastic.” Technically speaking, it’s pioneering tech that seals flexible paper packaging using nanotechnology to extend its lifespan.

The University of Waterloo spinout is ready to demonstrate that it can do this at scale and in a cost-effective manner with the help of a new, $4.6-million CAD grant from the federally funded National Research Council of Canada (NRC) via its Industrial Research Assistance Program, Nfinite CEO Miguel Galvez told BetaKit in an exclusive interview in advance of today’s funding announcement.

“It’s a very significant amount of money, and it comes at a time which is the valley of death for deep tech manufacturing startups.”

Nfinite has spent years developing tech capable of coating paper with a thin film that keeps water and oxygen molecules out—meaning it can’t be as easily damaged. Leveraging a proprietary process that resembles how semiconductors are coated, the startup hopes to extend the shelf life of the paper packaging used to preserve consumer products like protein bars or coffee pods, while also maintaining its compostability and recyclability at the same cost as plastic alternatives.

This funding will allow Nfinite to begin commercializing its platform, which deposits thin film onto rolls of paper, at a pilot manufacturing facility that it hopes to break ground on by early 2027. It will also allow the company to collaborate with partners Amcor (which is also an investor), PepsiCo, and Unilever.

“It’s a very significant amount of money, and it comes at a time which is the valley of death for deep tech manufacturing startups,” Nfinite CEO Miguel Galvez told BetaKit in an exclusive interview. Galvez said crossing the bridge from pilot to manufacturing is the hardest part of any deep tech manufacturing firm’s journey, and argued that few funders exist to finance that leap.

“NRC coming in is a huge, huge win for us, because what will result from this grant money is us proving our pilot manufacturing and becoming ready to build a factory,” he added. To that end, Nfinite has commissioned a pilot plant in Waterloo with the capacity to produce 200,000 square metres of this paper annually.

Since closing its $8.9-million seed round in 2024, Nfinite has honed in on its business model. The company intends to sell rolls of paper coated in its thin film to consumer packaged-goods brands, “almost like a paper mill,” Galvez said.

Galvez, who connected with the startup through his role as venture partner at Nfinite seed investor Republic Capital, took over as CEO of Nfinite in February, replacing co-founder Chee Hau Teoh. He said the Nfinite team recruited him for his experience building and selling a Massachusetts-based company called NBD Nano.

NBD Nano, which developed thin film coatings that the electronics industry uses to protect products from dirt and stains, was acquired by German manufacturing giant Henkel in 2022. Galvez said the company’s tech and path to commercialization have a lot in common with Nfinite. “It really has felt like I’ve just been doing the same thing for the last 15 years,” he added.

The CEO said that flexible paper packaging capable of preserving food products with faster turnover, such as chocolate bars, already exists. But when it comes to protecting items that are stored for longer before consumption, like protein bars, soup packets, or coffee pods, the shelf life of existing options is an issue. Nfinite aims to change that by coating flexible paper packaging in a thin film using a technology and technique called atmospheric pressure spatial atomic layer deposition.

The startup was founded in 2021 by University of Waterloo associate professor Kevin Musselman, an expert in the space, and two of his graduate students, Teoh and CTO Jhi Yong Loke.

Coupled with Nfinite’s existing projects, Galvez said this grant gives Nfinite and its 18-person team three to four years of runway. Once Nfinite has de-risked its pilot and tackled the challenge of depositing thin films continuously at scale, the startup plans to raise a Series A round.

“I think a lot of deep tech companies have raised big sums of money on false promises, and then, ultimately, things didn’t work out,” Galvez said. “We don’t want to be like that. We want to make sure that we prove everything out and that we’re fully confident this is a scalable and profitable factory.”

Feature image courtesy Nfinite Nanotech.