Woodly Oy
Woodly Oy is a Finnish materials technology company that has developed Woodly®, a patented wood-cellulose based, carbon-negative, mechanically recyclable plastic sold as drop-in resin pellets to converters, extruders, and brand owners in food packaging, hospitality, and industrial applications across Europe and the UAE.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersEspoo, Finland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Woodly Oy does
Woodly Oy is a Finnish materials technology company that has developed Woodly®, a wood-cellulose based plastic positioned as a drop-in replacement for fossil-based plastics. The patented material is described as the world's first wood-based, mechanically recyclable plastic made from wood cellulose sourced from sustainably managed forests; it carries a negative global warming potential of approximately -0.08 kg CO2 per kg (versus 1.7–3.5 kg CO2 per kg for conventional fossil plastics), is approved for food contact, can be recycled up to five times without property deterioration, and carries a near-infrared signature enabling 99% detection confidence in existing optical sorting systems. The technology was developed and commercialized following €2 million of seed funding in 2019 and a €3 million growth round in May 2021 from Finnish angel investors including founders of Small Giant Games.
The company sells Woodly® primarily as granular resin pellets to converters, extruders, and brand owners in the food packaging, hospitality, and industrial segments. Commercial applications include heat-sealed takeaway bags (deployed with R-kioski's ~350 stores, VR Group, St1's HelmiSimpukka, HMSHost Norway at Oslo's Gardermoen Airport, Compass Group Finland, Aspretto Café by Sodexo) and reusable drinking glasses (deployed at Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi, Holiday Club Saimaa, and Kattegatcentre). Industrial uses include Treston's BiOX storage solutions and Amerplast flexible packaging.
Woodly operates a partnership-led, capex-light go-to-market model, scaling through Tier-1 extruders and compounders — notably UK-based Flexipol (film extrusion) and Wells Performance Materials (12,000+ tonnes/yr compounding capacity) — rather than direct manufacturing. The company is headquartered in Espoo/Helsinki, Finland, with a regional UK office in London, and serves customers across Finland, the UK, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the UAE, and Portugal. Senior leadership includes Managing Director Kenneth Lindfors, CEO Jaakko Kaminen, Sustainability Director Jonathan Edmunds (ex-DS Smith), Commercial Director Sean Fortune (ex-Flexipol), and Marketing Director Carita Valve. Headcount is reported at 1–10 employees, with 2025 marking a wave of C-suite hires to support UK and international expansion.
Woodly Oy firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Woodly Oy
- Legal name
- Woodly Oy
- Website
- https://woodly.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Woodly Oy is a Finnish materials technology company that has developed Woodly®, a patented wood-cellulose based, carbon-negative, mechanically recyclable plastic sold as drop-in resin pellets to converters, extruders, and brand owners in food packaging, hospitality, and industrial applications across Europe and the UAE.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Woodly Oy is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Espoo
- HQ country
- Finland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Woodly Oy business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Woodly® Material Sales: Woodly generates revenue through the sale of Woodly® material - granular plastic pellets used as raw material in the plastics industry. The material is sold to manufacturers, converters, and brand owners for use in packaging and other plastic product applications.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Woodly Oy product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Woodly Oy produces Woodly®, a patented wood-cellulose based plastic material sold as granular pellets to manufacturers, converters, and brand owners. The material is a drop-in replacement for fossil-based plastics, compatible with existing processing lines, and is offered in two principal commercial applications: Woodly® Heat-Sealed Bags for food packaging and Woodly® Reusable Drinking Glasses for the hospitality sector.
Product overview
Woodly Oy is a Finnish material technology company that has developed Woodly®, a wood-cellulose based plastic that serves as a drop-in replacement for conventional fossil-based plastics. The core product is sold as granular plastic pellets used as raw material in the plastics industry. Woodly® material can be processed on existing production lines without retooling. The company commercializes the material through two main product applications: Woodly® Heat-Sealed Bags for food packaging (available through convenience stores, railway services, airports, and cafés) and Woodly® Reusable Drinking Glasses for the hospitality sector (adopted by hotels, resorts, and attractions). The material is carbon-neutral, mechanically recyclable, and approved for food contact applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Woodly® Material (wood-cellulose plastic pellets) Granular plastic pellets manufactured from wood cellulose sourced from sustainably managed forests, serving as a drop-in replacement for fossil-based plastics in packaging and product manufacturing. The material is carbon-neutral/carbon-negative, mechanically recyclable, food-contact safe, and processable on existing extrusion and conversion lines without retooling.
- Woodly® Heat-Sealed Bags Heat-sealed take-away bags made from Woodly® material for food packaging applications. Tunable permeability extends product shelf life and maintains freshness; bags are recyclable and suitable for sandwiches, snacks, and other grab-and-go food products.
- Woodly® Reusable Drinking Glasses Reusable drinking glasses manufactured from Woodly® material for hotels, resorts, restaurants, aquariums, and event venues. The glasses provide a durable, carbon-neutral, recyclable alternative to single-use plastic cups while preserving guest experience.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduces CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil-based plastics
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Woodly Oy
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Woodly Oy technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Woodly Oy partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Flexipol LtdcoreUK-based Tier-1 film extruder has successfully produced clear Woodly® films on existing extrusion lines with no retooling required. Partnership includes joint sustainability reporting, marketing collaboration, and pilot projects with brand owners. Flexipol's production capacity provides Woodly with an accelerated route to the UK market.
- Wells Performance Materials LtdcoreUK-based specialist compound manufacturer with annual capacity exceeding 12,000 tonnes. Partnership enables local compounding of Woodly® materials in the UK, improving supply reliability, shortening lead times, and supporting Woodly's growing customer base in food packaging and other applications.
- Bird CollaborativeflagshipUAE-based sustainability and design-driven company. Partnership launches the Woodly Reuse & Recycle Concept, piloting the first Woodly-made reuse and recycle drinkware collection across selected hospitality venues in the UAE during 2026. Bird's mission includes removing 1 KG of plastic waste from UAE Ocean for every order placed.
- Andaz Capital Gate Abu DhabiflagshipHyatt hotel property introducing Woodly reusable drinking glasses at its Pool Deck. Partnership demonstrates sustainability commitment and reduces single-use plastics at the renowned hotel.
- KattegatcentreminorRenowned aquarium in Grenaa, Denmark adopting Woodly's reusable drinking glasses as part of sustainability initiatives.
- AmerplastcoreFinnish packaging company cooperating with Woodly to present wood-based alternative to traditional fossil-based plastics. Amerplast is a forerunner in sustainable packaging solutions and one of the largest flexo printers and bag converters in Europe.
- Black Moda OyminorFinnish textile manufacturer and retailer, first textile company to pack clothing in Woodly's wood-based plastic packaging bags.
- St1 (HelmiSimpukka)coreFinnish energy company using Woodly® heat-sealed takeaway bags for display case sandwiches at HelmiSimpukka chain outlets across Finland.
- TrestonminorGlobal workstation and storage solution manufacturer using Woodly® material in BiOX storage bins and solutions.
- R-kioskicoreFinland's leading convenience store chain (part of Reitan) with approximately 350 stores, adopting Woodly® heat-sealed bags for takeaway products.
- VR GroupcoreFinland's railway company using Woodly's heat-sealed bags for food-to-go products on long-distance trains.
- Holiday Club SaimaaminorLeading Finnish holiday destination and spa resort adopting Woodly's reusable drinking glasses.
- Compass Group FinlandcoreWorld's leading food and multi-service company expanding collaboration with Woodly for heat-sealed bags as snack wrappers.
- HMSHost NorwaycorePart of Avolta AG, world leader in creating dining for travel venues. First company in Norway to incorporate Woodly heat-sealed bags at Gardermoen Airport, Oslo.
- Aspretto Café by SodexocoreGlobally recognized café chain owned by Sodexo adopting Woodly bags across its locations in Finland as part of sustainability efforts.
- Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA)minorWoodly joined BBIA to contribute to policy development promoting renewable feedstocks, incentivising sustainable innovation, and supporting transition to circular economy.
- RECOUPminorUK's leading independent authority on plastics resource efficiency and recycling conducted an assessment confirming Woodly® is mechanically recycle-ready, density separable, and identifiable by near-infrared sorting technology.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Woodly Oy competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Novamont: Italian developer of Mater-Bi® bioplastics (starch/PBAT-based) for compostable packaging, bags and food service. Competes with Woodly in the same end-use bag and food-packaging applications across European retail and foodservice.
- NatureWorks: Global leader in PLA bioplastics (Ingeo®) used across food packaging, foodservice and durables. Most direct competitor to Woodly in the drop-in bioplastic pellet space; both sell resin into converters/brand owners seeking to displace fossil plastics.
- TotalEnergies Corbion: Joint venture producing Luminy® PLA resins from sugarcane for packaging, foodservice and consumer goods. Directly competes with Woodly for converter and brand-owner programs targeting bio-based packaging.
- Danimer Scientific: US-based producer of Nodax® PHA bioplastic for single-use packaging, foodservice and coatings. Competes for the same brand-owner sustainability budgets and converter relationships that Woodly targets.
Broad incumbents
- DS Smith: Major European sustainable packaging converter and recycling group. Woodly's newly hired Sustainability Director joins from DS Smith, and DS Smith is both a potential channel partner and an indirect competitor for sustainable packaging programs.
- Braskem: Latin American petrochemicals major producing I'm green™ bio-polyethylene from sugarcane. Larger-scale incumbent selling renewable-content polyolefins to many of the same consumer goods and packaging customers Woodly is targeting.
- Stora Enso: Nordic forest-products major with a growing biomaterials division (wood-based lignin, cellulose, bio-carbon). Strategic comparable for Woodly as a larger Nordic peer commercialising wood-derived, non-fossil material inputs.
- UPM Biochemicals: Division of UPM producing bio-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), lignin and renewable functional fillers from wood biomass. Comparable as a Nordic incumbent turning forest feedstocks into drop-in replacements for fossil-based chemicals and plastics.
Emerging players
- Avantium: Dutch company developing plant-based PEF polymer for bottles and films, with comparable mission of replacing fossil-based plastics with renewable feedstocks. Comparable technology-stage peer focused on a different but adjacent bio-based polymer.
- Biodol: European bioplastics/blend producer focused on compostable and bio-based films for packaging applications. Comparable emerging player in the same European market Woodly is targeting through Flexipol and Wells.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Woodly Oy social profiles
Digital presenceWoodly Oy financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Woodly Oy leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Woodly Oy funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Woodly Oy M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Woodly Oy
What does Woodly Oy do?
Woodly Oy produces Woodly®, a patented wood-cellulose based plastic material sold as granular pellets to manufacturers, converters, and brand owners. The material is a drop-in replacement for fossil-based plastics, compatible with existing processing lines, and is offered in two principal commercial applications: Woodly® Heat-Sealed Bags for food packaging and Woodly® Reusable Drinking Glasses for the hospitality sector.
Is Woodly Oy a public or private company?
Woodly Oy is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Woodly Oy founded?
Woodly Oy was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Woodly Oy based?
Woodly Oy is headquartered in Espoo, Finland, in the Europe region.
How does Woodly Oy make money?
One revenue line is on record: woodly® Material Sales.
Who are Woodly Oy's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Novamont, NatureWorks, TotalEnergies Corbion and Danimer Scientific. Broad incumbents are DS Smith, Braskem, Stora Enso and UPM Biochemicals. Emerging players are Avantium and Biodol.
Does Woodly Oy have an API?
No public API is recorded for Woodly Oy.