Friendlier provides reusable plastic containers to food service operators, using a deposit-and-return system with sanitized redistribution to replace single-use packaging. Customers pay a deposit for signature ocean-blue containers and receive refunds at drop-off stations. The company sanitizes used containers and operates reuse programs across Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Friendlier has partnerships with the Toronto Zoo, Coca‑Cola Canada, grocery chain Farm Boy, and the University of British Columbia. The startup is expanding its system to support hot beverages, catering, and retail grab-and-go stations and is deploying additional proprietary micro-sanitation hubs. As of the article, Friendlier has reused more than 3.3 million containers and has raised nearly $13 million CAD to date. Friendlier provides reusable food containers and a companion app that lets customers pay deposits, claim refunds on returns, and enables containers to be sanitized and recirculated. Led by CEO Kayli Dale, the company aims to expand operations and its business reach to meet growing demand. Plans include strengthening the sales team, establishing new facilities in Guelph and Vancouver, and building a reverse supply chain to support reusable packaging at scale. After three years in market, Friendlier has reused one million containers, equivalent to 127,000 pounds of plastic, 370,000 pounds of CO2 emissions, and 8 million litres of water saved versus single-use packaging. Financially, the company has raised a total of $8.35M to date and has secured over $1M in non-dilutive funding. Prior financings include $850,000 in pre-seed funding, $2.5M in seed funding, and a recent $5M seed extension. Friendlier supplies low-cost reusable containers to the food service industry and operates a return-and-sterilize system with collection bins and cleaning locations in Guelph and Ottawa. Customers place food orders in Friendlier containers, which are later collected, cleaned, sterilized and resold to businesses; repeat customers receive a small discount. The company offers a consumer app to find participating businesses, locate return bins, track discounts and monitor plastic savings. Friendlier was cofounded in 2019 by University of Waterloo chemical engineering graduates Kayli Dale and Jacquie Hutchings and is based in Guelph. It employs about 35 people and serves more than 200 customers, including restaurants, corporate cafeterias, post-secondary institutions and Compass Group. Operational metrics in the article note Friendlier has cleaned and reused more than 500 million containers, with each container used about 100 times.

Total raised

$11M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Aug 2025