Olyns, a leader in technology-centric in-store consumer recycling solutions, raised a $1M seed round led by Vanedge Capital.
The Olyns recycling platform includes an eye-catching bottle collection machine designed for high traffic indoor locations, and a mobile app to provide rewards, CRV redemption (in bottle bill states), and an environmental impact dashboard. Operating at the nexus of consumer recycling and retail media, Olyns' recycling cubes are efficient, durable and streamlined with a 65-inch full motion video screen that doubles as a retail media channel.
"People want to recycle, yet every year, over 67 million pounds of plastic ends up in oceans and landfill," said Philip Stanger, Co-Founder and CEO of Olyns. "The recycling system is broken - the closure of recycling centers across the US means that many people don't have access to recycling, and in addition, much of what we put in our curbside recycling bins doesn't actually get recycled. Our new approach provides consumers with the convenience and incentives to recycle, and can redirect millions of tons of plastic and aluminum from landfill and oceans into new products."
Earlier this year, PepsiCo partnered with Olyns to produce a pilot program in one Bay Area Safeway store. The program was successful and has expanded to include four Safeway stores - Milpitas (#1879), Santa Clara (#1990), Sunnyvale (#2887), and Cupertino (#3251).
"Plastic waste is an urgent global problem, and we have been looking for a team and solution that could engineer a profitable and effective shift in the consumer recycling paradigm," said Paul Lee, managing partner at Vanedge Capital. "Olyns solves the revenue problem by embedding recycling infrastructure inside a retail media network, and ensures scalability with a gig-economy model on the back end. Philip and John are exceptional leaders with the vision, technical expertise, and experience to profitably disrupt the consumer recycling ecosystem. We are delighted to partner with Olyns and look forward to actively supporting the company's growth in the coming years."
"This seed round will enable us to accelerate the execution of both our product road map and our customer growth strategy, which will help us speed up the expansion of our network of recycling cubes in California, the US and around the world," said Stanger.
