Transforming Waste into Resources: Our Investment in Resourcify
The world has a massive waste problem. Too many products are produced for a short lifespan with 40% of plastic only being used once before being thrown away. Although households contribute meaningfully to the mountains of waste worldwide, it is corporates that are responsible for a staggering 90.6% of all waste within the EU. Yet even for the best-intentioned company, it is surprisingly difficult to understand both the nature of their own waste streams as well as their recycling opportunities.
Enter Resourcify, the operating system powering the transition to the circular economy by revolutionizing the way corporates understand and manage their waste streams. With their comprehensive platform, Resourcify enables companies to increase their recycling rates while also driving large waste cost reductions up to 40% and a truly circular economy. Today we’re thrilled to announce their 14M Euro Series A round, led by Vorwerk Ventures.
A Costly Waste Crisis
The increase in waste production worldwide is relentless - literally an ever-growing mound of trash. At this rate, we’re on track for an estimated 70% additional waste by 2050, overflowing our waterways and fields. Landfills and incineration sites are common endpoints for much of this waste, releasing alarming amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere and contributing to local water and soil pollution. Beyond the devastating climate effects, the waste crisis comes at a tremendous cost - in Germany alone waste management costs companies 77€ billion annually.
See revenue where others see costs
Resourcify is at the forefront of addressing this crisis. By mapping a company’s at times highly complex waste streams and connecting them directly to specialized recyclers, Resourcify transforms waste management from a costly necessity into a potential revenue stream. With Resourcify, corporates have, often for the first time, complete visibility into their various waste streams and their optimization potential, as well as clear next steps and options to transition from paying for waste management (i.e. paying someone to transport the waste to a landfill or incinerator) to getting paid for the valuable components of their waste streams that can be recycled or reutilized as resources within their own production cycle. This is a game-changing capability, both for the companies themselves and for the planet.
Why We Invested
Revent’s mission is to enable top founders to solve real problems, and waste is undeniably a critical challenge. The magnitude of the waste problem continues to increase significantly over time - and from a climate balance sheet point of view, we have no time to spare. The business case here also could not be clearer: dealing with waste is expensive, and customers are increasingly demanding more sustainable production and circular behaviour while governments are tightening regulation around waste disposal. Moreover, at a time of supply chain insecurity and mounting cost pressures, corporates are generally searching for sustainable solutions that are in the best case revenue generating. By aligning climate and financial incentives, Resourcify uniquely addresses both of these challenges.
When we met Gary and Felix in 2022, it was clear that they were building something important. And since then, we’ve been impressed by the way they’ve built the product to meet the specific needs of large enterprise clients. Today, Resourcify’s solution uniquely addresses the complexity of digitally mapping and managing waste streams for even very large corporations. And the product is already moving the needle significantly for its users: to date, customers are able to save up to 40% of waste costs while drastically increasing recycling rates. With these kinds of results, it’s no surprise that some of the largest retail champions in DACH including McDonalds, Hornbach, and EDEKA are already using the Resourcify platform.
We were thrilled to invest just after Resourcify’s seed round in 2022 and to support Gary and Felix over this past year as they built up the product, team, and customer base. Today they announce a 14M€ series A led by Vorwerk Ventures on the back of this progress, which will enable them to further accelerate their customer rollout. We look forward to continue supporting Resourcify on their quest to reduce billions of tons of waste, save hundreds of millions for their customers, and contribute to a return to our planetary boundaries to preserve the planet for the next generations.
If you would like to learn read in the news (TechCrunch, BusinessInsider) about Resourcify or visit their website.