New-age waste management platform Cercle X raises Rs 1.9 crore in a Seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures

Tamil Nadu-based new-age waste management platform Cercle X has raised Rs 1.9 crore (about $253K) in a seed funding round, as it is aiming to scale marketing, operations, and technology. Gurugram-based Inflection Point Ventures led the new round.

Cercle X says the 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. The movement of waste is untraceable and commercially unviable to collect and reprocess materials, it said.

Vishnu Vardhaan and Divya Shetty co-founded the startup in January 2020. Their vision is to create a unified ecosystem for the management and transformation of waste into valuable products, thereby enabling a circular economy.

The startup is 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.

With this round of funding, It plans to expand its presence into key southern Indian cities + Top tier-1 cities as a part of its growth plan.

“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 future generations. Our vision is to enable brands to achieve zero waste through circularity," Vishnu Vardhaan, Co-Founder & CEO, Cercle X said.

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.

The startup claims to have partnered with more than 700 vendors and channelizes 500+ MT of recyclables each month. In addition, it also executes EPR mandates for 20+ large corporates/brands and works directly with 50+ governmental agencies and ULBs. 

"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," Vishnu adds.

“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 optimizing the current waste/resources in hand," Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures said.

"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," he adds.

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 is a partner of the United Nations Global Partnership for Marine Litter (GPML).

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