Waste management platform Cercle X raises Rs. 1.9 Cr in a Seed round
New-age waste management platform Cercle X raises Rs 1.9 Cr in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds raised will be utilised towards marketing, operations and technology, the company co-founded by Vishnu Vardhaan and Divya Shetty said.
Solid waste generated in India daily is 2.76 lakh MT. 58k MT of solid waste that could have been recycled (paper, plastic, metal) is dumped daily without processing. Even with thousands of kabadiwalas, recyclers, aggregators across India, the waste management sector is largely unorganized. Movement of waste is untraceable, and commercially unviable to collect and reprocess materials.
“Cercle X is focussing on creating a B2B marketplace that connects key players (brands, consumers, MRFs, aggregators, recyclers, logistics partners, manufacturers) across the waste value chain, thereby improving access to quality waste, enhanced traceability, and transparency,” an official statement said.
Their vision is to create a unified ecosystem for management and transformation of waste into valuable products, thereby enabling a circular economy. With the funding in place, Cercle X plans to expand into key southern Indian cities and top tier-1 cities as a part of its growth plan.
Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Treating waste through sustainable solutions is the need of the hour in India and across the globe. Cercle X with its deep experience, knowledge and passion in the waste management space promises zero waste to landfill by optimising the current waste/resources in hand. This platform aims to conserve the planet and at the same time empower thousands of waste warriors associated with the company. Not only is this a high impact socially relevant investment but is a big untapped market opportunity for a sector agnostic platform like IPV. The company is already working with some of the leading corporations and has a strong pipeline for the coming quarters.”
Vishnu Vardhaan, Co-Founder & CEO, Cercle X, says, “Waste is a global pandemic with absolutely no solution in sight. With Cercle X, we work with the world’s most sustainable brands to handle their waste streams, to create circular solutions that’ll save the planet’s resources for the future generations. Our vision is to enable brands to achieve zero waste through circularity. IPV offers much more than just funds – they believe and support our vision and go above and beyond to help us strengthen our presence in the market. Their wide network across sectors will help us scale rapidly.”
Cercle X aims to provide differentiated offerings in the B2B waste management space via its waste management services platform Think Trash that would connect various players in the existing value chain for easy pickup-delivery of waste, Supply of recycled raw materials and Supply of recycled/ waste transformed products.
Cercle X has tie-ups with 700-plus vendors and channelizes over 500 MT of recyclables each month. Cercle X also executes EPR mandates for more than 20 large corporates/brands and works directly with over 50 governmental agencies and ULBs.
Some of the achievements of Cercle X include being declared as the Impactful Cleantech Startup of the Year, 2021 by FICCI, Emerging Startup of the year, 2021, by Government of India (MeiTy), NASSCOM & United Nations and being a partner of the United Nations Global Partnership for Marine Litter (GPML).
