Munich Startup: What problem keeps your customers up at night, and how exactly do you solve it?
Joshua Linn, founder & managing director: Our customers face a massive conflict of objectives: e-commerce continues to grow, while regulatory pressure (PPWR), costs, and sustainability requirements are increasing. Single-use cardboard boxes are a huge problem. The constant need to repurchase them not only creates high costs but also generates enormous amounts of packaging waste. The entire returns process is extremely inefficient.
We solve this with a closed-loop reusable packaging system for shipping boxes.
Our boxes are used for more than 20 cycles, digitally tracked via QR code, and automatically returned to the cycle.
The result:
- up to 95 percent less packaging waste
- up to 80 percent CO2 reduction
- significantly lower costs in the long term
Munich Startup: What makes you radically different from other providers?
Joshua Linn: We don’t sell packaging – we operate a system.
This means:
- Packaging-as-a-Service instead of product sales
- every box is part of a closed-loop cycle
- tracking, data, and return are integrated
- C2C approach: We collect all boxes at end of life and recycle them ourselves, then reuse the recycled material for new production
Many think of reusable packaging as just a “more robust box.” We think in logistics processes and circularity. Our approach works especially well where returns already happen, for example in fashion, rental models, repair and exchange processes, or intralogistics.
“The current system is absurd”
Munich Startup: When did you know: We’re going to make this happen?
Joshua Linn: The moment came when we realized how absurd the system currently is: products are elaborately produced, shipped, and the packaging is disposed of after just a few minutes. After the first conversations with Outfittery, it was clear: the problem isn’t just real – it’s huge and unsolved. And then there was really no turning back.
Munich Startup: What was your most difficult moment so far, and what did you learn from it?
Joshua Linn: The most difficult part was (and is) not the product – but the market. We’re moving between established logistics processes, conservative decision structures, and extreme innovation pressure at the same time. There were phases where deals fell through just before closing or were delayed for months.
Our most important insight: timing often beats the best solution. You need extreme perseverance because decisions in large organizations rarely develop linearly.
The Ocean Package combines sustainability and economic viability
Munich Startup: If everything goes according to plan: what should people say about you in five years?
Joshua Linn: That reusable packaging in e-commerce has become the new standard thanks to us. And that we’ve shown: sustainability and economic viability are not mutually exclusive – quite the opposite. Our goal is that companies don’t think about whether to use reusable packaging anymore, but only about which system.
The Ocean Package was founded in 2021 and develops a closed-loop reusable packaging system for shipping boxes in e-commerce. The goal is to drastically reduce packaging waste while lowering costs and CO2 emissions.
The startup was founded by Joshua Linn and Philip Mayer. Linn studied political science with a focus on politics and economics and developed the idea while still a student.
Munich Startup: Where do startups in Munich hit their limits, and what works particularly well here?
Joshua Linn: Munich is a strong location – but not necessarily an easy one.
Challenges:
- high costs (office, personnel)
- comparatively conservative environment
What works very well:
- access to industry and corporations
- strong networks (e.g. logistics, mobility, circular economy)
- high quality of talent
For us as a B2B startup, Munich is therefore a very good location despite everything.
Munich Startup: Perfection or speed?
Joshua Linn: Clearly: speed. Perfection gets you nowhere if you’re too late.
Especially in a fast-moving market like ours, you need to iterate, test, and learn. Our approach: start fast, learn thoroughly, improve continuously.
