Singapore-based Circulate Capital, which incubates and finances companies that focus on reducing plastic waste in the ocean, announced that it has committed to invest $19 million in four Indian companies — Srichakra Polyplast, Rapidue Technologies (Recykal), Deeya Panel Products (Ricron), and Dalmia Polypro Industries.
In a statement on Wednesday, the firm said that the investment will be routed through its Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF). The capital provided will fund capacity expansion to help portfolio companies embark on their next stage of growth, it added.
The fund had previously invested in two other Indian companies — Lucro Plastecycle and Nepra Resources Management. The firm said that these investments form a part of its commitment to dedicating half of the CCOF’s corpus of $106 million to the waste management and recycling industry in India.
“At a time of tremendous uncertainty, the six companies in our India portfolio are positioned to help the country build back sustainably and transform from a linear to a circular economy. Combined, they will directly create over 6,600 safe, stable, and dignified jobs while preventing 5 million metric tonnes of plastic pollution from entering the environment by 2030,” Rob Kaplan, CEO and founder, Circulate Capital said.
“Supported by the Swachh Bharat Mission and strong demand from brand owners, India is well placed to provide a blueprint for leveraging plastic circularity to improve livelihoods and build back better globally,” he added.
CCOF was established by Circulate Capital in partnership with PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Chanel, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, and Chevron Phillips Chemical. In addition to financing, Circulate Capital provides mentorship, technical expertise as well as introductions to its network of partners along the value chain.
Among the investees, Srichakra is a plastic recycling and waste management company based in Hyderabad that specialises in offering recycled products in bulk to the packaging industry, while Rapidue is an end-to-end digital solutions provider, facilitating transactions for all stakeholders across India’s waste management and recycling value chain.
Ricron is a plastic waste recycling company based in Gujarat that specialises in converting low-value multi-layer plastic (MLP) waste into high quality, eco-friendly materials for furniture, housing, roofing, construction and other building applications. On the other hand, Mumbai-based Dalmia Polypro specialises in recycling locally-sourced Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and a variety of Polyolefin’s into plastic materials for the apparel brands, and consumer and industrial packaging manufacturers.
