India waste management software provider secures $22m
Recykal, a software provider for the waste management and recycling industries, has raised USD 22m in funding led by Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure.
Circulate Capital also participated, having first backed the company in 2020 as one of the first investments from its fund dedicated to alleviating plastic waste pollution in South and Southeast Asia. Vellayan Subbiah and Arun Venkatachalam, fourth-generation members of the Murugappa family, which has interests across agriculture, engineering, and financial services, re-upped as well.
Recykal has now received USD 26m from private investors to date, including USD 4m in 2020. During this period, it has processed 200,000 tons of waste, working with 100 brands, 1,000 corporates, and 150 recyclers.
The company was founded in 2016 by Abhay Deshpande, who came from an e-commerce background. It initially launched a consumer-facing app for recycling domestic waste, but then pivoted to a B2B model, serving as a marketplace that brings together sellers – from hotels and offices to small-scale aggregators – and recyclers of electronic waste and plastics.
In addition to the marketplace, it offers a digital exchange for brands and recyclers, facility management software for waste aggregators and collection centres, and a cloud-based system that helps local authorities operate deposit refund schemes.
Recykal claims to be disrupting a national waste management industry worth USD 13.4bn, consistently registering threefold year-on-year revenue growth in recent years. It is on track for INR 2.2bn (USD 29.8m) in revenue for the 2022 financial year, Deshpande told YourStory.
The new capital will go towards strengthening the company’s technology, extending the reach of its B2B marketplace, and building hyper-local waste processing infrastructure. There are also plans to broaden the recycler customer base, including specialists in metals, batteries, and other components.
India features prominently in Circulate’s pollution reduction strategy. The portfolio also includes recycling businesses Lucro, Srichakra Polyplast, Dalmia Polypro, and Ricron Panels, and waste management player Nepra.
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