Grevivals: Nanobag is morally obliged to sustain nature’s diversity, maintain our planet’s health, and most importantly fight climate change for present and future generations. How can Nanobag make a significant impact against climate change around the globe?

Rune Kippervik: First of all, our bags contain around half the amount of materials than most of our competitors. In addition, for each bag we sell we’ll plant one tree with Eden Reforestation.  As an example one single mangrove tree can store up to 1750lbs (800kg) of CO2 over its lifespan. Since we have a very small carbon footprint to begin with, planting a tree for every bag makes us carbon positive many times over. That means that for every bag we make, we take carbon out of the atmosphere. In addition to sequestering carbon, the trees we plant also help prevent soil erosion, and mitigate floods and other climate related disasters. 

Grevivals: Nanobag is a unique platform where individuals can connect to nature. Why do you think Nanobag is unique and different from other companies?

Rune Kippervik: First of all we’re a crowdfunding company, so our products have been developed with our customers. We engage with our customers through our Kickstarter and Indiegogo platforms and it’s an ongoing dialogue that helps us make the Nanobag a product that they’ll love. This feedback loop makes it much easier for us to improve and perfect our bags. So far we’ve not found any other bag with the same properties as ours and our goal is to make the best product on the market. We really invest both time and money into making our products as great as they can be. As mentioned before, we also plant trees with our products, which is a way for us to give back to nature and rather be a part of the solution than the problem. 

Grevivals: What is the mission and vision of Nanobag?

Rune Kippervik: Our mission is to make the very best and most practical reusable bags, so that people actually use them, in order to reduce single plastic use, while at the same time being a responsible company that works to solve climate change rather than causing it. 

Grevivals: In your opinion, what is the biggest strength of your company? Can you please tell us about the future plan of Nanobag? Where do you see your company in the next 5 years

Rune Kippervik: In addition to having a unique product, we have an amazing dedicated team who believes in our product. Our goal is to become one of the leading providers of reusable bags in the world. Now we’re in around 10 markets globally and it’s going well so far. We want to expand to many more countries and grow Nanobag into an international brand. 

Grevivals: Almost every company or startup usually faces difficult situations at the early stage. Can you talk to us about the challenges Nanobag has faced along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Rune Kippervik: We invest a lot into making the Nanobag a high quality product. This means that our profit margins are very slim, which makes it harder for us to scale our business. It would be impossible to do what we’re doing if it were not for crowdfunding. Another problem for us is that many people are not used to paying for quality reusable bags. People are used to free single use bags, and rather buy $1 poor quality ‘reusable’ bags at the cashier that they’ll never use again. Without actually picking up, feeling and and using our bags it’s quite hard to explain how our bags are different. Once they’ve tried our bags they’ll never go back to the cheap reusable bags again. 

Grevivals: Nanobag has launched a campaign on KICKSTARTER. Can you please tell our audience what strategies you have followed to make this campaign a huge success?

Rune Kippervik: We have an extensive feedback loop with our audience, and we’ve grown with our backers, by giving them exactly what they want. We listen to them for features, we run our designs by them, so that we know that they really want what we make for them even before we make the next iteration. It’s a symbiotic relationship that helps us grow faster and create exactly what they want from us. Our community is the backbone of our company and we have a very loyal following. We have many customers who have supported all five of our campaigns. 

Grevivals: If a company or an individual wants to get involved with your crowdfunding campaign to promote Nanobag, what will be your advice/suggestions for them?

Rune Kippervik: If you are an individual, and you want to get your hand on some of our bags, you can go to our Kickstarter campaign and get our early bird pricing here: http://kck.st/3natVGs. Many of our backers share our project on social media, and it really helps us find new customers. We are very grateful for any shutouts. If you’re a company, big or small, and you want to resell the Nanobag, please get in touch with us on rune@nanobag.com. We’re always looking for distributors and stores to carry the Nanobag. Also, if you have some recommendations on who we should talk to, we’re also very thankful.

Grevivals: Could you please tell us our audience about your campaign titled “1 Bag sold = 1 tree planted”

Rune Kippervik: Since the very first Nanobag campaign we’ve been planting one tree for every bag we’ve sold. Currently we’re working with Eden Reforestation and they’re amazing. Eden Reforestation Projects is a nonprofit NGO that works in developing countries to rebuild natural landscapes destroyed by deforestation. Eden works directly with villages and communities suffering from extreme poverty resulting from the deforestation and destruction of the land that sustains them. Eden works in 9 countries, plants more than 26 million trees per month and hires all local teams. By planting trees we make our company carbon positive, which means we take out more carbon out of the atmosphere than we emit. We believe all companies should be a part of the solution, rather than the problem. As companies we need to take responsibility for climate change. We cannot leave it all up to NGOs to clean up the mess. 

Grevivals: Being a part of an environmentally conscious community, what kind of suggestions would you suggest for the new/upcoming “Green ” startups/SME’s (small and medium-sized enterprises)?

Rune Kippervik: Listen to people’s problems and try to solve them better than anyone else. The Nanobag started with a problem I had personally, and with a little research I found that many others had the same problem. The reusable bags I found just weren’t practical to use. So I went out there, found the right people to work with and together we created a better alternative. Look for problems related to waste, resource mismanagement, emissions etc and you’ll find that there is so much that can be done. People want these solutions… but the problems aren’t going to solve themselves. They need caring entrepreneurs that go out there and identify them and find a way to do it better. You don’t need to have pieces to the solution yourself, go out there and find the right people to work with. Go on Upwork… talk to companies… go to makerspaces… go to expos. You need to build a strong team. Creating a healthy company is all about having a solid foundation with all the skill sets you need. You need to be able to solve the problem, but also be able to tell the story the right way. 

Grevivals: Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?

Rune Kippervik: First of all, we wouldn’t be anywhere without our backers. They’ve been amazing and Nanobag wouldn’t have existed without them. Secondly I want to thank my amazing co-founder Ursus who has been with me since the very beginning, and the wonderful dedicated team we’ve built around over the years: Fong, Sunny, Aslihan, Henrik, Vanessa, Glea, Bianca and Jeanne. I’d also like to give a shoutout to everyone who supported us, shared our project and helped us along the way.

Grevivals: Is there something you would like to add?

Rune Kippervik: I just want to sincerely thank you for the opportunity to tell our story.