From Startup Yale to Forbes 30 Under 30, Shervin Dehmoubed ’22 is leading the charge in sustainable packaging.

By Michelle Cheon, Yale College '28

Shervin Dehmoubed ’22 is on a mission to redefine sustainable packaging. As an undergraduate at Yale, he won the Innovator’s Prize at Startup Yale 2021 for his idea to replace single use plastic shipping materials with compostable, biodegradable alternatives. He went on to found  EcoPackables, a company dedicated to creating 100% sustainable packaging.. Its latest plant-based mailer has earned national recognition, including the Sabin Sustainable Venture Prize and earned him a spot on Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in 2023”. Guided by  a mission to offer high-performing, scalable alternatives to traditional plastic packaging, EcoPackables has emerged as a  leader in affordable, high-performance packaging for brands committed to reducing waste.

We asked Shervin five questions about his journey from Yale to entrepreneurship, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and what’s next for EcoPackables.

What originally inspired you to start EcoPackables, and how has your vision for the company evolved since then?

I started EcoPackables during COVID, while I was running a physical products company. Once we reached the point of shipping several hundred orders a day, I realized just how much packaging waste we were creating. At the same time, I saw that COVID was accelerating e-commerce, which meant this problem was only going to get worse. When I dug deeper into the industry, I found it was incredibly antiquated — people were still going door-to-door selling packaging to warehouses, and there hadn’t been any real innovation in nearly a century. That’s when I decided to tackle packaging waste in the supply chain.

What was a challenge early on with EcoPackables that taught you an important lesson?

When we first brought our compostable film (our D42 film) to market, the biggest challenge was cost. The material hadn’t yet reached economies of scale, so it was very expensive for most brands and small businesses to make the switch. Companies weren’t willing to invest because of the higher price, and as a fully bootstrapped company, we had to operate with extreme discipline. We slowly scaled production until we reached a point where volumes were high enough that our compostable films were nearly cost-competitive with virgin plastic. That experience taught me a core lesson: sustainability will only scale if it doesn’t cost more. Almost all of our clients exist to make money, so if we want real impact, we need to offer sustainable solutions at the same or lower cost. That principle has become the foundation of EcoPackables and the reason we’ve been able to scale so significantly.

How do you keep EcoPackables innovative as it grows and adapts to new markets?

Our success comes down to the incredible people on our team. We’ve built a culture that constantly questions the status quo and challenges legacy materials in packaging. That mindset led us to develop BioLaminate, one of our most exciting innovations. BioLaminate has the potential to solve plastic waste at scale — it’s chemically identical to plastic but made from responsibly sourced sugarcane instead of fossil fuels. Every new material we explore starts with two questions: can it work at scale, and can it eventually be cost-competitive with plastic? If the answer is yes, our team will work relentlessly to make it happen.

What advice would you give to other Yale students who want to launch enduring,
impactful ventures?

Think beyond the usual paths and don’t just do things because everyone else is doing them. There are countless industries outside of AI, finance, and software that impact our daily lives and face huge challenges. These industries need young, talented, and hardworking people to step in and make improvements. 

My advice is: don’t make decisions based on FOMO or simply because something seems “safe.” Instead, choose an industry where you believe you can have a real impact, where you enjoy the people you work with, and where the problems are meaningful to you. Bring a fresh perspective, and you’ll stand out.

What do you wish you’d known when you were just starting out with EcoPackables?

The two most important things in business are the people you work with and the value you create. Invest in the right people,  pay them well, treat them well, and empower them with ownership to solve problems for clients and within the organization. At the same time, focus your team on just a few key areas where you can make the biggest impact.

Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Instead, pick a specific group of customers and serve them exceptionally well. Once you’ve done that, once they’ve gotten everything they need from you, then you can expand and make an impact elsewhere.