Evaluating only Temper Pack’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Brian Powers, Charles Vincent and Alex Petrov founded TemperPack in Richmond VA for sustainable cold chain packaging.
FUNDING
Raised $22M Series B targeting grocery e-commerce and pharmaceutical cold chain packaging markets.
DOWN ROUND
Raw material costs spiked 40-60% while fixed-price contracts with FreshDirect and others locked in losses.
SHUTDOWN
Filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy after failing to renegotiate client contracts and secure emergency bridge financing.
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Documented cause
TemperPack raised $30M including a $22M Series B in 2019 for its sustainable cold chain packaging technology targeting e-commerce grocery and pharma shippers. Despite growing climate-liner product sales during COVID-driven grocery delivery expansion, the company faced severe raw material cost inflation of 40-60% in 2021-2022, while customer contracts locked in pre-inflation pricing. Unable to renegotiate terms with major grocery clients including FreshDirect, TemperPack filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2022.
Lesson
“Manufacturing startups must build inflation escalator clauses into all multi-year customer contracts.”
Failure anatomy
Collapse type
Bankruptcy
📉 MEDIUM
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