MIWA's first investor is Tilia Impact Ventures

In September, MIWA acquired an important investment from Tilia Impact Ventures. In the field of the circular economy, a cooperation of two interesting entities has begun - the first and so far the only investment fund in the Czech Republic and the internationally awarded startup with the ambition to get rid of the world of redundant plastic packaging. (Press release)

A modern system for the distribution and sale of unwrapped goods, developed by MIWA Technologies, can save up to 71% of the environmental footprint compared to today's disposable packaging system, according to an independent study. Since its foundation in 2015, the company has received several international awards - as the only Czech project, for example, it has won the prestigious New Plastics Economy Innovation Prize given by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a world authority in the field of the circular economy. From the EU or UN side, MIWA system has been cited several times as an example of "best practice" in preventing plastic pollution.

MIWA Technologies recently launched its first pilot in the Czech Republic. At the Country Life store in Letna, Prague, customers can now buy about 30 products into reusable packaging. The second domestic implementation will be in cooperation with the e-shop Košík.cz. At the same time, the launch of the first sales abroad is being completed - the technology will soon be introduced by one of the German supermarket chains and also by Nestlé in its stores in Switzerland. “The MIWA system is designed to ensure both full user comfort for shoppers and quality assurance for brand manufacturers and retailers. We want to make the waste-free shopping to become to an everyday standard over time, ”says Mirek Lizec.

woman in black jacket shopping package-free from MIWA system

Tilia Impact Ventures wants to be a pioneer of so-called social impact investment in the Czech Republic, which is an established standard abroad and which gives the usual financial investment another dimension. In addition to generating financial returns, the supported companies have to maximize their social or environmental impact. Tilia was founded in 2018 by the Albatros Media co-owner Silke Horáková and the co-founder of Impact Hub in the Czech Republic Petr Vítek. The fund's investors include successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists such as Ondřej Bartoš, Libor Winkler and Martin Ducháček. The funds' investments make CZK 60 million by the end of 2019. Next to MIWA and the previously invested Datlab, it plans to support up to eight other projects.

"We are delighted that our second investment focuses on the circular economy sector. We see the transition to a circular economy as a global trend, and MIWA company has the ambitions to achieve a massive social impact," says Silke Horáková, the co-founder of the fund.

Petr Vítek and Tilia Impact Ventures with Petr Báča and MIWA team
MIWA Technologies director Mirek Lizec speaks also out of purely financial dimensions: “This is not just about a financial investment but also about a partnership. Tilia is helping us reach a broader network of the impact investors abroad.” In the near future, the MIWA company is facing a number of implementations in Western Europe and the response from customers is so great that they already look for new investors to scale the technology up. “We are very pleased by the investment and we see it as an expression of our credibility by successful entrepreneurs. We believe that in the future, MIWA will be able to join the Czech startups that have succeeded abroad,” adds Petr Báča, the company's founder.