Deluxe Recycling raises funds via impact-focused investment management firm: Circulate Capital

• ByStartupStory     |    April 6, 2022

Circulate Capital, the Singapore-headquartered impact-focused investment management firm, announced an undisclosed amount of investment in Mumbai-headquartered Deluxe Recycling. It is the seventh investment made from the $100 million Circulate Capital Ocean Fund I (CCOF I) in India.

For its recycling facilities, increasing its capacity by three-fold the capital will help Deluxe set up three new facilities across western and southern India.

Deluxe was founded in 1999 by Jignesh Shah. Deluxe through its proprietary technology and manufacturing facility recycles multilayer plastics (MLP) such as sachets and used beverage cartons into pallets and rickshaw seats. Typically ending up in incinerators or landfills, MLPs are considered low-value plastic and are difficult to recycle. Deluxe in 2020 recycled 7,100 tonnes of MLP, and by 2025, plans on diverting 34,000 tonnes of waste per annum from incineration and landfills. 

Currently, Deluxe employs 150 full-time employees and 140 contract labourers. To provide training and development in effective waste segregation as well as offtake agreements, offering better terms for formal, price premiums, and informal waste pickers, it also works with external vendors and aggregators.

Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Circulate Capital, said in a statement that an attractive investment for CCOF are the factors that made Deluxe. 

By leading global corporations such as PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow Danone and others, the fund focused on ocean plastics in South and Southeast Asia was created. Launched in 2019, across 11 portfolio companies and typically writes cheque sizes  ranging from $2 to $10 million the fund has already deployed $55 million, said Rob.

Hyderabad-based Circulate Capital portfolio company, Recykal recently raised $22 million led by Morgan Stanley India.

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