Meet Pulpatronics, a tech startup designing for and with nature

For Chloe So, Co-Founder and CEO of Pulpatronics, joining CatalyseHer was a no-brainer: She was drawn to the program’s toolkits for small businesses as much as the empowering community of women entrepreneurs. 

Pulpatronics, a tech startup aimed at reducing e-waste by developing more sustainable RFID technologies, developed from a desire to design with and for nature – and to leverage cutting-edge technologies to do it. 

RFID tags are most commonly used in product identification and tracking, including price tags on clothing. These tags contain a metal component, but because it’s embedded in the tags, consumers often don’t realise that they’re generating e-waste when they cut off and throw away the tags.

The current life cycle of an RFID tag is costly, wasteful, and polluting — which is where Pulpatronics steps in. Pulpatronics develops more sustainable, fully-recyclable RFID technology made of materials that are both metal- and plastic-free. 

“The big vision is to look at how we can reduce single use or disposable e-waste, and so we're starting with RFID tags, but then we also know that the technology can work on other types of materials,” said Chloe. “So there is a whole aspect that we can look into, potentially looking at cork, cotton, even bioplastics.”

Chloe herself has always been interested in the intersections of science, design, and engineering, and when she worked in the U.S. startup accelerator ecosystem, she realised that she wanted to combine her interests to build innovative solutions, address social problems, and disrupt industries. 

Chloe decided to take the next step toward realising that dream by joining a master’s program aimed at problem-solving through science, tech, and design where she met her co-founder.

“We were in this master’s program, and we wanted it to be a technology-led project. My co-founder, he’s the CTO, he’s basically a scientist, and I think he really wanted to leverage the emerging technology,” said Chloe. “I think one of the things that he finds frustrating is that a lot of this emerging technology stays in academia and doesn’t get commercialised, so that was kind of our big goal: How do we commercialise some of this emerging tech so that we can actually accelerate change in the world?”

Chloe found CatalyseHer during a routine search for grants and acceleration programs, and she quickly realised that the program was a great opportunity to hone her business skills and grow alongside other female entrepreneurs. 

Over the course of the program, Chloe enjoyed the self-paced training platform, the business toolkits and templates, and the founder-focused community. 

“One thing that I definitely leveraged was rethinking what our value proposition was,” said Chloe. “We went through fundraising with one value proposition, but you know, as you learn from the customers and demand from consumers, things always change. I think this was a really good program for me to rethink and gather everyone on the team to think about their value proposition and how that changed in the last year, because everything is changing every day.”

During live sessions, Chloe appreciated the supportive environment co-created by the other program participants: Chloe mentioned that many sessions consisted of sharing experiences, challenges, and solutions, and she noted that the support was powerful, especially surrounded by other women. 

“There’s no other better program, I think, that gives you all the tool sets right there. Not only do you just learn on your own, but then you get to actually chat in those peer-to-peer sessions with other female entrepreneurs to learn what other people are building and also to hear about what struggles they have,” said Chloe. 

Now, after winning a £5,000 micro-grant in the CatalyseHer pitch competition, Chloe and Pulpatronics are looking toward the future. The team is wrapping up the final stages of research and development and hopes to begin early trials later this year. Early next year, they’ll begin fundraising for a seed round. 

When asked what advice she’d give to aspiring entrepreneurs, Chloe said to “just go for it.”

“Something that I’ve used to get myself out there is really just to be comfortable in the uncomfortable,” said Chloe. “I think if you’re trying to start something, the more comfortable you are in this unknown space, the better you’ll be able to actually self-grow as well as to go for what you want. I would definitely say just go for it.”

Learn more about CatalyseHer and stay updated on future cohorts by registering your interest.