Mild Karoon-ngampun

Founder & CEO, UPCYDE

Industry : Business

Mild Karoon-ngampun is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of UPCYDE, a biotechnology startup that transforms agricultural waste into sustainable materials and products. A graduate of the International Programme in Design and Architecture at Chulalongkorn University, she began her career as a landscape architect before joining her family’s footwear manufacturing business during the Covid 19 pandemic. As the third generation of the business, she saw an opportunity to turn waste into valuable resources.

She founded UPCYDE to combine science, design and biotechnology to upcycle agricultural by products such as banana peels, fruit waste and coffee grounds into alternative materials for packaging, furniture and consumer products. At the heart of UPCYDE’s work is its Reverse Resource System, which transforms waste back into valuable resources while opening possibilities beyond the limitations of conventional materials and production systems. The approach addresses waste at both ends of the chain, reducing material loss while creating new economic opportunities for farmers and manufacturers. Rather than simply managing waste, UPCYDE explores how discarded resources can be redesigned, reimagined and given new value.

Beyond product development, Mild is an active speaker and mentor on sustainability, the circular economy and ESG. Her approach treats sustainability not as an add on, but as a starting point for better design, new possibilities and a more resourceful future.