PODCAST: New Earth Ventures Launch with Matt Saunders and Wes Carter

In this episode, Cory Connors welcomes Atlantic Packaging President Wes Carter and New Earth Ventures Managing Partner Matt Saunders for an exciting announcement: the official launch of New Earth Ventures (NEV), a venture capital firm launching in partnership with Atlantic Packaging. Wes shares how Atlantic’s decades-long commitment to packaging innovation and sustainability laid the foundation for NEV, while Matt discusses his background in venture capital and how his partnership with Wes came together. Together, they outline how NEV will support entrepreneurs, startups, and customers working to build a more circular, sustainable packaging future.

Key Topics Discussed:

• The 30-year history of Atlantic Packaging’s innovation philosophy and how it evolved into New Earth Ventures
• The role of the Packaging Solution Center in Charlotte as a hub for packaging science and technology
• How NEV differs from traditional corporate venture capital by pairing deep packaging expertise with a scalable fund model
• The types of founders and startups NEV is looking to partner with — from materials innovators to AI and robotics entrepreneurs
• How Atlantic’s diversified customer base across food, beverage, e-commerce, medical device, and building products gives NEV a unique market advantage
• The MUST stretch film optimization program as a model for how technology and packaging can intersect to drive massive ROI
• The role of artificial intelligence in accelerating the next generation of packaging materials and supply chain efficiency
• How NEV helps founders navigate market fit, pricing premiums, and early-stage customer partnerships
• The importance of radical collaboration across the packaging value chain to solve the global waste crisis
• Current NEV portfolio highlights including Specright and investments in material and AI technology companies

Wes and Matt close with a shared sense of optimism — that the waste crisis can be solved in our lifetime through radical collaboration, new materials, and emerging technology. NEV is positioned as a catalyst to accelerate the innovative spirit that has defined Atlantic Packaging for over 80 years.