After winning $225K grant, Orono startup moves ahead with ocean-friendly drink lid

Photo / Tim Greenway Ocean researcher Ariadne Dimoula is founder and CEO of a startup that aims to put a lid on disposable consumer goods made from plastic.

Write a Comment

By Renee Cordes

An Orono-based startup that aims to cut ocean pollution with low-cost, compostable plant-based drink lids as an alternative to plastic will use a $225,000 National Science Foundation grant to proceed with its innovation.

Paramount Planet Product won the federal grant this summer that founder and CEO Ariadne Dimoula said is about more than money.

"Having the National Science Foundation as a backer," she told Mainebiz, “means that now we're recognized as scientists on a national level. It also recognizes our idea as innovative and has commercial potential and a societal impact."

The grant was awarded through the SBA's Small Business Technology Transfer program. Both it and the Small Business Innovation Research Program provide early-stage, high-risk technology funding for startups and small businesses.

Maine Technology Institute's technical assistance team, led by Karen West, helped with the application. The team helps companies apply for both programs, which have provided more than $115 million to more than 114 Maine businesses since 1997. West said that 62% of the recipients were assisted by MTI.

For Paramount Planet Product, MTI experts helped with everything from choosing the right funding category to completing the application for so-called Phase 1 funding to determine a project's feasibility, Dimoula said.

Dimoula, one of three people at her company, said the application ran about 88 pages long and succeeded on the second try, thanks to MTI.

"It wouldn't be possible without them," she said.

Speaking about the program in general, West told Mainebiz, "It's a good way for a company to get credibility, because proposals are reviewed by both technical and business experts. An award means they've passed the vetting process."

She also noted that funding "is for that early stage when no one else will really fund you besides family and friends, and you're too early for bank loans and venture capital."

Importantly for companies just starting out, West said they don't have to pay grant money back and they retain their intellectual property rights, "which is huge, because that's all they have at that stage."

Next steps

Grateful for MTI's help, Dimoula (who dropped the "s" from her surname since being featured in a Mainebiz print feature last year) said her company plans to use the grant money awarded this summer to develop a formula and test for its material, along with a small machine to manufacture the lids using the new material.

The material is made a proprietary blend of plant-based materials to make a disposable drink lid that resembles plastic but will not harm the ocean environment if littered.

In about a year, Paramount Planet Product hopes to learn more about its application for a further $2 million in federal funding cover the cost of developing a prototype.

The ultimate goal: To launch its innovation commercially and make a meaningful dent in a growing global packaging market projected to reach $90 billion in 2022.

"There's nothing that's going to stop us from putting these materials that are better for the environment into the market," said Dimoula. "We are tackling the innovation challenges head-on, and the next step will be to make sure we're communicating that to our potential customers."

More information

More information about the federal Small Business Technology Transfer and the Small Business Innovation Research programs, along with MTI's Technical Assistance Program and other resources available to companies in Maine, can be found on MTI's website.