Melbourne-based material science company Great Wrap has entered into voluntary administration with reported debts of $39 million, almost six years after the founders officially launched their direct-to-consumer brand in 2020, which resulted in 30,000 orders in the first month.
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Great Wrap co-founder and CEO Jordy Kay announced on LinkedIn on Thursday afternoon that, given the circumstances, the Australian startup’s story had come to a conclusion and thanked those who had supported the company’s journey.
According to ASIC’s published notices, administrators were appointed almost a month ago on September 17, 2025.
Staff members are believed to have already been let go, and the Herald Sun reports the startup has over $39 million in debts.
In his LinkedIn post, Kay confirmed Great Wrap will support the administrators through the process.
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“I will continue to support the administrators as we go through the voluntary administration process to sell all equipment and materials, and to do my best to have all creditors repaid in full,” he said.
Husband-wife team Jordy and Julia Kay left their careers in winemaking and architecture behind in order to put an end to human reliance on traditional plastic and revolutionise packaging technology, founding Great Wrap in 2019 and making their first sale that same year.
B Corp-certified Great Wrap manufactures the only Australian-made compostable stretch wrap for businesses and homes.
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In his statement, Kay said Great Wrap set up a well-known brand and eventually a high-performing product that competed perfectly against decades of innovation from the petrochemical stretch wrap industry.
“What also began to happen is that markets shifted away from compostable packaging for stretch wrap. Retailers and FMCG companies shifted strategy from replacing fossil-fuel plastics with compostable alternatives to vertically integrating their own plastic recycling operations,” Kay’s post stated.
“This meant the pipeline slowly subsided and demand weakened. We pushed on and grew the business to hundreds of enterprise customers and distributors but that wasn’t enough to sustain the overheads of a plant to support a much larger vision.”
Kay mentioned during this time Great Wrap knew they needed to move into bigger markets, so they originated opportunities in the US market.
“Sadly, a combination of being unable to get the Australian plant to break even meant we ran out of time and capital to pursue the US expansion,” he said.
In 2023, Great Wrap announced the launch of the world’s first compostable pallet wrap and raised $24 million in July 2022 for its vision to completely knock petroleum plastic off the supermarket shelf.
As of October 2023, Great Wrap had 25 employees working out of its Melbourne-based factory and main offices. The startup had a team of bio-designers, engineers and scientists.
Kay added both he and Julia believed strongly in the business, and this wasn’t the outcome any of Great Wrap’s customers, team and investors wanted.
“Julia and I went into this eyes wide open and swung for the fences to build something bold, but ultimately, we did not succeed. I hope our journey does not prevent others from trying in what can be a tough space, because if none of us tried, then we would live in a very dull world,” he said.
SmartCompany has contacted Great Wrap for comment.
