According to foreign media TechCrunch, the French startup has accumulated 7 million euros in financing, with investors including Eurazeo, FiveSeasonsVentures and others. The startup has been working since the past three years to develop a software to help food and beverage companies to recycle food containers.
Image taken from the company's website
According to the founders, the idea for the startup came from a marketplace in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris: next to the food stalls, garbage cans were filled with plastic cups, burger boxes and other disposable food packaging.
The company started its business by partnering with French food service companies to replace plastic cups with recyclable tableware. The business suffered a setback due to COVID-19 and began looking for other potential customers. The startup has now partnered with, among other food tech companies, to provide connected refrigerators for packed lunches and snacks.
But the biggest market opportunity stems from changing regulations. in July 2020, the French parliament passed an anti-waste law that requires restaurants to switch to reusable food containers by January 2023. This means that fast food chains will not be able to use paper cups, plastic cups, disposable flip-top boxes, etc. A partnership has been struck with a French fast food chain to help them phase in recyclable packaging.
Image taken from the company's website
The startup has created an Internet of Things software that connects various companies up and down the food industry. For example, when a fast-food restaurant buys a batch of boxes, all of them come with QR codes or NFC chips that allow them to be located and tracked in real time. Restaurants can outsource cleaning and recycling to other companies and recycle the boxes on a regular basis. These contracted companies would scan the QR codes on the containers and follow up on the progress of the cleaning or transportation work.
On the consumer side, customers could take the boxes home and use the app to find the nearest recycling site. The company is considering gamification or handing out small incentive payments as an incentive.
Benjamin Peri, co-founder and chief executive, said in an interview, "Our vision is to build a comprehensive and efficient recycling network. We want the recycling business to become an infrastructure. The startup believes it will build a dense network of restaurants, recycling sites and cleaning centers in the near future.
The company plans to cut its teeth on fast-food chains first. It is believed that the popularity of the software will further incentivize other restaurants to join, eventually making the company a core network operator.
Image taken from the company's website
The startup expects to amass more than 2,000 points of sale by January 1, 2023, it said. It hopes to further expand its partnerships with food tech companies and food service businesses. The company will use the latest infusion of capital to expand its team, hiring about 70 more employees.
Europe's recyclable packaging market was valued at $1,177 million in 2019 and will reach $1,307 million by the end of 2024, growing at a CAGR of 2.22% during the period 2019-2024, according to Research & Development Biz. In this regard, the Europe Recyclable Packaging sales market share in the food sector was 32.28% in 2019 and has remained stable year-on-year. The recyclable packaging companies include among others.