Vancouver, B.C.-based ChopValue, which has turned more than 176 million chopsticks into furniture and housewares, announced last week that it raised nearly $3 million. The funding, combined with an $11 million investment disclosed in April, comprise ChopValue’s Series A round.
The circular economy company has raised more than $22 million in total and has 50 employees globally, plus 200 workers in its franchise network.
ChopValue launched in 2016 and operates 80 “microfactories” in nine countries including Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan. The startup defines a microfactory as locally focused in its operations and measuring 2,500 to 4,000 square feet.
ChopValue partners with restaurants, hotels, offices, shopping malls and other venues, providing them with chopstick recycling bins that are emptied weekly. The recovered chopsticks are processed in local microfactories where they are sorted, coated in a water-based resin, dried and compressed under high temperatures. The solid product is then turned into tabletops, counters, cutting boards, wall paneling and other goods for homes and businesses.
ChopValue is part of a parent brand called Microfactory Venture Platform (MVP) that publicly launched in April. MVP is working to take a variety of waste products including coffee grounds and discarded clothing and turn them into new goods.
Felix Böck, CEO and founder of ChopValue and MVP, has a background in wood science and sustainability.
The new funding comes from InBC Investment Corp., a fund founded by the Province of British Columbia. Additional investors in the round include “two high-profile tech entrepreneurs, corporate venture capital funds and other existing investors from previous rounds,” according to the company.
https://ift.tt/nHbo3yz September 04, 2024 at 01:51AM GeekWire
Post a Comment
0Comments