Circular.co, a leading sustainable sourcing platform, announced it raised $10.5 million to expand its massive database of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials and the accompanying platform, which streamlines the buying and selling of PCR materials.
The funding includes a new $5.3 million funding round backed by Maniv, Oxygea, and Eclipse. This follows a $5.2 million seed round previously led by Eclipse. Circular will use the funding to grow its team, expand to additional sustainable materials, continue adding more companies and suppliers, and deepen the scale and functionality of its platform.
Leading companies in sectors ranging from food and beverage to durable goods and automotive are racing against the clock to meet their plastic reduction and net zero emissions targets by 2025 and 2030, per international agreements from the United Nations. However, signatories to plastic reduction commitments are likely to miss 2025 targets. And a small percentage of companies are reported to be on track to reach their net zero emissions goal by 2050.
Sustainability and procurement teams assigned with meeting the goals have been stuck in dealing with the PCR market’s fragmentation, resulting in ongoing issues and inconsistencies with price, quality, availability, and access.
Circular offers access to over 9,000 global suppliers with more than 50,000 PCR technical records codified using artificial intelligence (AI), including details such as price, specs, and volume of materials, and supplier certifications. Circular handles the searching, sourcing, vetting, and onboarding process for its customers, with results in days compared to months or years using analog methods.
This funding round follows recent company momentum, including several notable hires. And Circular has brought on experience talent: Shannon Gordon (former Vice President of Customer Experience at Walmart Global eCommerce) and Rob Ianelli (founder of Oceanworks) to help reach the company’s goal of transitioning the $600 billion plastics market to circularity. Arthurs is a former COO of TaskRabbit and Medium, and also previously held senior roles at Google and Airbnb.
In Q4 2023, Circular sourced 35,000 tons of post-consumer recycled material with $43 million gross merchandise value, supported nine global brands across four continents, and saved companies on average more than 10% vs. market price. And the majority of PCR pricing came in under virgin plastic index prices, breaking the commonly-held belief that there is always a green premium in PCR. With the additional funding round, Circular plans to grow in its current industry, expand internationally, and add additional sustainable materials, including paper and metals, to foster sustainable global trade.
KEY QUOTES:
“Many of the global Fortune 500 have set aggressive targets to use up to 50% ‘recycled resin in the coming 3-5 years. Globally, we manufacture north of 400 million tons of plastic goods per year, which will require not only a mind-bending amount of PCR to source but a complete overhaul of the supply chains and manufacturing processes used to procure plastic in order to meet these targets. In a world where procurement and product teams are expected to reimagine their supply chains almost overnight, Circular is the only single-pane-of-glass solution that can streamline the vendor identification, supplier qualification, specification standardization, quality assurance, and logistics to create consistency of supply, price, and quality to make PCR possible.”
– Eclipse Partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis
“Buyers transitioning to recycled materials face the typical challenges of an emerging, analog market rife with inefficiency and a lack of transparency. They can’t find the material they need, and if they can find it, it’s too expensive – and if they can afford it, there are often quality or consistency issues. Existing relationship-driven systems fail to provide the information necessary for buyers to make fast informed decisions, and on the flip side, suppliers have a hard time being discovered by and getting access to serious buyers. Circular unblocks these common issues using data and technology to help buyers and sellers navigate the global market efficiently. Armed with our data, buyers and suppliers make faster and smarter business decisions and simplify their process to get sustainable materials into production now.”
– Ian Arthurs, Founder and CEO of Circular
“As a trusted global brand, Danone is on a mission to improve the circularity of our packaging. Increasing the use of post-consumer recycled plastics in particular is critical to meeting our ESG goals. Large manufacturers need more efficient ways to navigate new PCR markets and Circular is taking an innovative approach there.”
– Marcu Alexander, Manager, Packaging Sustainability at Danone
“In a nascent, highly fragmented PCR market, Circular.co’s platform can help address existing supply shortages. As brands increasingly prioritize sustainability, Circular offers a seamless marketplace solution to purchase PCR reliably. With a world-class, experienced team, Circular is poised to solve some of the unique requirements of the industry. Oxygea is the manager of Braskem’s $100 million corporate venture capital fund. Our investment in Circular aligns seamlessly with Braskem’s circular economy objectives, and we look forward to supporting the company as it scales.”
– Artur Faria, CEO of Oxygea
“With guidance and support from the U.S. Pact, our members (called ‘Activators’) are demonstrating strong commitments not only to our collective PCR targets, but also their own individual PCR goals. U.S. brands, including large manufacturers like Danone, have committed to adopting PCR to hit ESG goals and in doing so need help navigating new markets and new materials. We’re excited that Circular.co, as one of our committed Activators, is delivering an innovative, data-driven approach to advance these goals. Their technology complements our own PCR Toolkit to help manufacturers navigate opaque PCR markets. By offering helpful resources, we can increase the adoption of PCR throughout U.S. manufacturing.”
– Emily Tipaldo, U.S. Plastics Pact Executive Director
