Diamond Edge Ventures Announces Strategic Investment in Food Packaging Startup, Freshr Sustainable Technologies
May 14, 2025
Diamond Edge Ventures, Inc. (President: Curtis Schickner, hereinafter “DEV”), the corporate venture arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Manabu Chikumoto), has invested in Freshr Sustainable Technologies, Inc. (CEO: Mina Mekhail, hereinafter “Freshr”), a Canadian startup pioneering sustainable active food packaging to extend shelf life and reduce food waste. DEV participated in the oversubscribed Seed round, led by Invest Nova Scotia, with participation from the BDC’s Climate Tech Fund, Nadarra Ventures, and Blue Tide Capital Ventures.
Founded in 2017, Freshr has developed a technology platform that enhances food packaging with natural active ingredients, extending shelf life and reducing waste throughout the supply chain. Freshr’s proprietary approach enables more sustainable and functional packaging solutions by immobilizing these natural active agents onto plastic films. This financing round will accelerate Freshr’s technology scale-up and global expansion.
・Curtis Schickner, President of Diamond Edge Ventures, said:
“Food quality preservation is a major pillar of Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s KAITEKI Vision 35 strategy. We believe Freshr’s technology platform, combined with MCG’s expertise in packaging materials and food preservation ingredients, can drive meaningful innovation in food shelf-life extension for our customers.”
・Mina Mekhail, Co-Founder & CEO of Freshr, said:
“Partnering with Mitsubishi Chemical Group is a tremendous opportunity to scale our sustainable active packaging innovations globally. MCG’s deep expertise in materials science and food packaging solutions will help us accelerate the adoption of our FreshrPack™ technology in the fresh protein sector.”
About Diamond Edge Ventures, Inc.
Diamond Edge Ventures, based in San Francisco, CA, was established in July 2018 as Mitsubishi Chemical Group's corporate venture capital arm. DEV invests in and partners with high-potential startups to drive innovation and new product development across MCG Group’s business areas. For more information, visit www.diamondedgeventures.com or contact info@diamondedge.vc.
About Freshr Sustainable Technologies, Inc.
Freshr Sustainable Technologies is a Canadian company developing sustainable active packaging solutions to extend the shelf life of fresh proteins. Their mission is to eliminate food waste through innovations in advanced materials. By 2030, they aim to help deliver 500 million pounds of fresh proteins using their proprietary FreshrPack™ shelf-life extending technology. For more information, visit www.freshr.tech.
Founded in 2017, Freshr has developed a technology platform that enhances food packaging with natural active ingredients, extending shelf life and reducing waste throughout the supply chain. Freshr’s proprietary approach enables more sustainable and functional packaging solutions by immobilizing these natural active agents onto plastic films. This financing round will accelerate Freshr’s technology scale-up and global expansion.
・Curtis Schickner, President of Diamond Edge Ventures, said:
“Food quality preservation is a major pillar of Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s KAITEKI Vision 35 strategy. We believe Freshr’s technology platform, combined with MCG’s expertise in packaging materials and food preservation ingredients, can drive meaningful innovation in food shelf-life extension for our customers.”
・Mina Mekhail, Co-Founder & CEO of Freshr, said:
“Partnering with Mitsubishi Chemical Group is a tremendous opportunity to scale our sustainable active packaging innovations globally. MCG’s deep expertise in materials science and food packaging solutions will help us accelerate the adoption of our FreshrPack™ technology in the fresh protein sector.”
About Diamond Edge Ventures, Inc.
Diamond Edge Ventures, based in San Francisco, CA, was established in July 2018 as Mitsubishi Chemical Group's corporate venture capital arm. DEV invests in and partners with high-potential startups to drive innovation and new product development across MCG Group’s business areas. For more information, visit www.diamondedgeventures.com or contact info@diamondedge.vc.
About Freshr Sustainable Technologies, Inc.
Freshr Sustainable Technologies is a Canadian company developing sustainable active packaging solutions to extend the shelf life of fresh proteins. Their mission is to eliminate food waste through innovations in advanced materials. By 2030, they aim to help deliver 500 million pounds of fresh proteins using their proprietary FreshrPack™ shelf-life extending technology. For more information, visit www.freshr.tech.
