Waste technology company RecycleSmart launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on double the valuation it had a year ago to fund its expansion to every capital city in the country by the end of the year.
Dubbed Australia’s “Uber for waste”, RecycleSmart collects almost everything that can’t be placed in the yellow council bins and recycles such as soft plastics, coffee pods, batteries, blister packs, electronics, and clothes, and recycles them. The app allows customers to book pickups, and the platform analyses the collected recyclables and provides valuable data and insights to the customer.
RecycleSmart has already saved 800 tonnes of material from landfill in the past five years since its launch and has doubled customer numbers and revenue in the last 12 months.
In the first 48 hours of the campaign going live in Birchal, 500 expressions of interest were lodged making it the fastest start to a crowdfund on the platform this year.
The company is backed by Antler, Brisbane Angels, and Prisma Capital. Co-founder and CEO Giorgio Barrachi says he expects customers to lead the crowdfunding campaign.
“We know the vast majority of Australians want to do more to take ownership of their waste and are frustrated about being forced to send items that could be repurposed or recycled to landfill because of a lack of accessible solutions,” Barrachi said. “We are the only service that provides traceability, transparency, and round-the-clock reporting for a reasonable price.
“Through our partners, we can shred soft plastics and convert them into feedstock oil,” Barrachi added. “We donate clothes and textiles in sellable condition to the Australian Red Cross or other charities and repurpose and recycle if they’re not. Valuable materials are extracted from e-waste. Polystyrene is granulated and pelletised to be transformed into raw material that can be used to make park benches, skirting boards, and even bee hives. We make sure every item has a second life.”
Barrachi said a lack of government-funded recycling solutions had led many Australians to take waste matters into their own hands.
“We have had a huge surge in customers across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Sydney and Melbourne,” he said. “Our annual recurring revenue has doubled to $2 million, and the number of bags of materials we have collected has increased by 240 per cent yearly.”
RecycleSmart launched a B2B offering under a year ago. Since then, nearly 800 companies have registered their interest including Canva, Google, John Holland, Dolby Australia, Disney Studios and WeWork.
“Every year, Australia sends roughly 76 million tonnes of material to landfill, and corporations account for more than 80 per cent of that,” Barrachi said. “With the clock ticking on the Federal Government’s 2025 National Packaging Targets and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek pushing for stricter rules to boost recycling, Australian companies are feeling the heat to step up and manage their waste better.”
RecycleSmart has also partnered with councils to provide subsidised, regular collections, including some of the country’s biggest, like Sydney’s Randwick City Council.
Birchal co-founder and CEO Matt Vitale said the crowdfunding platform was delighted to be managing the round.
“We’re thrilled to be welcoming RecycleSmart back for round two with Birchal,” Vitale said. “Their success speaks volumes, 800,000 kgs of waste diverted and impressive traction and growth since their last raise. Recyclesmart is inspiring a movement towards a cleaner Australia; making recycling as easy as ordering a pizza.”
