Cover: The most sustainable paper packaging on the planet. Hemp paper bags, cartons and paperboard. Made in the USA. One bag, one carton and one corrugated box in hemp paper. Why now: Packaging is moving to paper. Paper still comes from trees. $6.8B SOS paper bag market, $12B mono-carton market. What we make: bags in market, handle bags next, cartons prototyping, paperboard available, all 100% hemp paper. The material: hemp grows back in 120 days vs 20 to 80 years for trees; 4x usable fiber per acre; 13 to 25 mm fibers vs 2 to 5 mm; 2x strength at the same weight. Traction: 200,000+ hemp paper bags shipped; 12+ active accounts; 100,000+ bags paid for by sponsors; 13 brands worked with. Where we sell: grocery, hospitality, cafes and retail live; Amazon and Walmart.com live; DoorDash pilot in discussion; federal opening. Brands we have worked with: Safeway, Highgate, American Savings Bank, Romer Waikiki, Park Shore Waikiki, National Hemp Association, Cannabase, Fair Wind, Island Brew, Mary Jane Junction, Vermont Alter Native, Saendo's, Charli's. The sponsor model: sponsor pays $0.40 a bag, store pays $0 to $0.20, bag costs $0.32 to make; 100,000+ bags paid for by sponsors, 25,000 in select Safeway stores. ZERO-TREE™ donation campaign: 19,563 bags funded by supporters for food banks, beach cleanups and small businesses; from $10; backed by the National Hemp Association. How the business is structured: Hemp Paper Company makes hemp paper packaging on paper made under contract with non-circumvention and West Coast exclusivity; Much Better is a DBA selling hotel supplies at about 40% margin, $295K revenue to date; Hawaii Fibers is a sister company farming hemp in Hawaii. Revenue today: $295K hotel supplies under the Much Better name at about 40% margin; $82K hemp paper sales booked to date; 60% of customers reorder, down from 80%. Unit economics: bag sold direct 20%, sponsored bag 20 to 47%, hotel supplies about 40%, cartons 35 to 40% planned, licensing 65%+ later. The next five years: bags and paperboard now; cartons and handle bags 2027; corrugated and custom packaging 2028; West Coast pilot mill 2029; seed to paper 2030 with fiber from Hawaii Fibers. Why we win: USDA Certified Biobased; a protected paper supply; the sponsor model with 100,000+ sponsored bags; already on the shelf. The risks and how we handle them: supply (contract paper today; exclusivity signed, pilot mill study under way), demand (reorders fell to 60%; more sales agents and cartons), capital (financing, incentives and grants cover a large share of machine cost). Team: Ben Draper, Founder and CEO, author of Hemp: Rewriting Paper's Future with Ancient Fibers of the Past; Julia Park, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, hemp farmer with a decade in brand partnerships and sales; Kevin Duresog, CFO, part-time; with advisors. Use of funds: $175K sales agents, $150K cartons, $75K handle-bag line deposit, $25K pilot facility study, $25K grant applications, $50K reserve. The ask: $500K SAFE, $8M post-money cap, 20% discount to Series A, $100K minimum. Ben Draper, Founder.