In 2015, inspired by the amount of trash brought by our daily coffee consumption, Co-founder Tom Chan came up with an idea for a new paper coffee cup that eliminates plastic lids through a foldable top. The initial concept garnered a lot of attention - winning an international design contest, getting featured on BBC, Fast Company, and National Geographic, as well as exhibited in a national museum in Taiwan. In 2019, Tom and Kaanur Papo, both longtime friends, decided to work together on making the cup become a reality. Hundreds of prototypes later, and with the help of peers and mentors - they arrived at the perfect lid-free paper cup, and Unocup was created. Unocup’s design maximizes ease of folding for customers and baristas, spill proofing, cost-saving, manufacturability, and has a sleek modern look. Unocup envisions a future where plastic lids are eliminated for good, preventing them from littering the earth and entering our oceans.