Investing in Circular Business Models in 
North America & 
Europe with Maya Hassa from Circular Innovation Fund - VC

Recycling and Materials Innovation around the world

Ocean plastics are a danger to the environment and humans. Cleaning it up and avoiding it from happening is a business opportunity, though.

In this episode, Ellen Martin, Chief Impact Officer at Circulate Capital, presents how the circular startups in their portfolio tackle the plastics crisis while running profitable businesses. With venture capital investments in Asia and Latin America, Ellen highlights commonalities and differences of markets in these continents. She illustrates the dependency of circular business models on local circumstances.

This episode is part of VC for Circularity - the Venture Capital Perspective on Circular Economy Startups.

People Ellen Martin, Chief Impact Officer at Circulate Capital https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenmartinsf/

Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/

Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:23 Getting to Know Ellen Martin 02:56 Start with corporate investors 05:34 The investment focus on plastic circularity 07:56 Assessment of Circular and Social Impact as part of the Due Diligence 13:37 Integrating circular impact and commercial success 18:21 Balancing local feedstock supply and international scale 19:54 Reasons for starting in Asia 23:29 The relevance of vertically integrated models 24:44 The challenges of technology transfer to emerging markets 26:09 Scaling potential of different business models 29:00 Having an impact and building a business simultaneously 29:39 Undervalued companies, the role of regulation and local for local ecosystems

About Circulate Capital is a leading circular economy investment management firm in high-growth markets.

Circulate Capital partners with global brands and institutional investors to invest into solutions that catalyze systems change across the globe. The financing transforms circular plastic supply chains at scale, delivering competitive financial returns and positive impact.

Further Links https://www.circulatecapital.com/

Calculator: https://www.thecirculateinitiative.org/plastic-lifecycle-assessment-calculator-for-the-environment-and-society/

Portfolio companies: https://www.tridi-oasis.com/ https://www.lucro.in/ https://www.preventedoceanplastic.com/ https://www.earthodic.com/

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