CLEANHUB, the digital platform that enables local communities in developing countries to create large-scale collection businesses for non-recyclable plastics, announced the successful closing of its seed funding round today.
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CLEANHUB founders Florin Dinga, Joel Tasche and Bosse Rothe (Graphic: Business Wire)
The funding round was led by Lakestar and 468 Capital, joined by Übermorgen Ventures, Pirate Impact Capital and angel investors Andreas Brenner, Marc Stöckli, Charles Songhurst, Erik Hahnloser, and Friedrich Neuman.
CLEANHUB has the ambitious goal to solve the plastic crisis in the oceans by reducing the unrestrained influx of plastic into the oceans by 50% until 2030.
The startup has developed a digital solution that scales plastic collection in high-impact countries. CLEANHUB’s platform connects sustainable brands with collection partners who collect non-recyclable plastic in coastal regions of developing countries. Using CLEANHUB’s technology, companies can demonstrably collect ocean plastic for every product they sell, neutralizing their plastic emissions.
CLEANHUB’s solution has met with great interest from various industries internationally, including Noughty, FOAMIE, Vuori, Nordgreen, Share, OceanBrands, and even giants like Würth.
After a year-long research trip through Southeast Asia, CLEANHUB was founded in January 2020 by entrepreneurs Bosse Rothe, 29, Joel Tasche, 29, and Florin Dinga, 39. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to further establish its digital solution for businesses and expand its tracking technology for larger collection volumes.
‘Since our initial research in 2018, our goal has been to find a solution to marine plastic pollution that is both scalable and impactful. To now have this vision supported by impact and tech investors is an important milestone in our journey. Together, we look forward to taking our positive impact to the next level with our investors,’ says Founder & CEO Joel Tasche.
The cleantech company has partnered with more than 70 brands to date and has already recovered plastic from the environment equivalent to the weight of more than 20 million water bottles in India, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Brazil.
“We were very impressed with CLEANHUB’s approach because of its multi-faceted solution to the plastic crisis. Their focus on the right countries, material types, and recovery technologies showed us that they dive deep into the problem. We are excited to join Cleanhub on their journey to make a meaningful contribution to solving one of the biggest environmental problems of our generation,” says Alexander Langguth, Managing Partner at Zurich-based impact VC Übermorgen Ventures.
Bosse Rothe, co-founder, elaborates, ‘It has never been easier for companies to make a verified contribution against plastic pollution in the ocean. CLEANHUB uses its software to ensure the highest possible and most sustainable impact per dollar of contribution.’
An estimated 11 million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year from the environment via rivers. The exponential use of plastic in all aspects of life is leading to the ever-increasing pollution of our oceans. In 195o, around 1.5 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide – by 2015, this figure had risen to 322 million tons.
Brands and companies, therefore, have an ever-increasing need to take responsibility for their products, not only in production but especially in the disposal. CLEANHUB enables companies to take measurable and maximally effective action against the plastic problem in the ocean.
To provide both businesses and consumers with a digital record of how much plastic has been recovered, all collection partners use CLEANHUB’s software to track and trace the entire recycling process. To date, it is the only plastic collection solution that provides real-time tracking to verify the positive environmental impact of brands at scale.
About CLEANHUB
CLEANHUB was founded in January 2020 by entrepreneurs Bosse Rothe, 29, Joel Tasche, 29, and Florin Dinga, 39. The digital platform enables local communities in developing countries to create large-scale collection businesses for non-recyclable plastics. The startup has developed a digital solution that scales plastic collection in high-impact countries. The platform connects sustainable brands with collection partners who collect non-recyclable plastic in coastal regions of developing countries. Using CLEANHUB’s technology, companies can demonstrably collect ocean plastic for every product they sell, neutralizing their plastic emissions. CLEANHUB’s solution has met with great interest from various industries internationally, including Noughty, FOAMIE, Vuori, Nordgreen, Share, OceanBrands, and even giants like Würth.
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