Karibou is capturing new financial resources with the aim of accelerating its plans to become a reference company in the market for 100% plastic-free single-use packaging. The company founded by the Pinosa family has just strengthened its shareholding with the entry of an investment group led by the president of Indra, Marc Murtra, and has also announced the relocation of its factory from Sant Cugat del Vallès to Santa Perpètua de Mogoda to multiply its production capacity.
Valued at nine million euros, the corporate operation aims to boost Karibou's sales and position the company among the European leaders in the sustainable food packaging sector within five years. The challenge is to reach a turnover of 85 million euros in 2028 and expand the workforce to 200 employees. This means multiplying the 2023 business volume almost tenfold, which reached 9.6 million thanks to double-digit growth of 10.3%. The objectives for this year are to grow by 45% and generate 14 million in revenue.
In addition to Marc Murtra, who is also a trustee of the La Caixa Banking Foundation, economist Daniel Clivillé, partner at the mergers and acquisitions firm Crea Inversión, participated in the operation. The two executives have invested in Karibou along with other partners through a newly created holding company that will be managed by Prisma Corporate, an investment platform that has accompanied Karibou since its inception, helping the company raise equity of around 15 million euros.
According to the sources consulted, the new investors will control 51% of the capital of the Catalan manufacturer of plant-based packaging. Marc Murtra will join Karibou's board of directors, which will now be chaired by Daniel Clivillé, who was already a director of the company. The transaction was advised by lawyer Fede Segura, from Roca Junyent.
"With the entry of these new partners, the company ensures a structured and professional governance, which was a goal we had in mind from the beginning," explains Xavier Pinosa, CEO of Karibou. The corporate operation of nine million euros is the result of a triple combination: injection of new funds through a capital increase (cash in), purchase of shares from existing partners who leave the company (cash out), and fundraising in the form of venture debt, a financing instrument used by startups to complete investment rounds and allow founders to dilute less in the shareholding. This hybrid debt operation has been signed with Banco Santander.
New 11,000 m² factory in Santa Perpètua
In parallel to the incorporation of the new partners, Karibou has announced the relocation of its factory to Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, as the current plant in Sant Cugat, where the company was born during the pandemic, has become too small. The new facilities, already built, have an area of 11,000 m² and will allow to quadruple production capacity in the next five years. In parallel, the workforce will grow from the current 90 employees to a total of 230.
Plastic-free single-use cups and salad bowls are Karibou's two great specialties, with major distribution chains such as Aldi, Lidl, Carrefour or El Corte Inglés as clients. The company also sells its sustainable packaging to companies such as Heineken and to the hotel and restaurant sector.
In 2023, 45% of Karibou's sales came from the international market, with clients in 14 countries. This year, the company's forecast is to increase the weight of exports to 55% and to reach a global turnover of 14 million, which would represent a 45% increase. "We aspire to lead the sustainable packaging proposal, at a European level, in the next five years," says Pinosa, who started the company with his father, Joan Ramon Pinosa, a professional with a long career in the single-use packaging sector, as he was a founding partner and senior executive of Nupik Internacional.
Karibou's packaging is 100% plant-based and, unlike other products on the market that are also sold as sustainable, they do not contain the thin plastic film that lines the inside to ensure their watertightness. "95% of disposable cups have plastic inside, even if it doesn't look like it. We have developed cups, plates and salad bowls with the same features, but without a gram of plastic, only sustainable plant fibers with FSC certification," Xavi Pinosa explained to The New Barcelona Post in 2021. According to the businessman, Karibou applies an ultrasonic sealing technology that guarantees that the cups will not leak and can hold boiling coffee or a soft drink for three hours.
Another of its competitive advantages is that the product adapts and advances to European regulations, since in addition to avoiding laminated plastic, its disposable containers do not contain fluorine and are domestically compostable.