Led · Equity · Jan 2023

Fairphone builds modular, repairable smartphones and has expanded into related hardware like earbuds that use recycled plastics and Fairtrade gold. The company emphasizes circular-economy principles and aims to lengthen device longevity through repairable-by-design hardware and extended software support. Fairphone plans to accelerate integration of fair and recycled materials across its product portfolio and expand mining value-chain programs in Africa and South America, alongside fair wage programs in Asia. It is investing in product development, improved customer service and brand positioning to raise awareness around fairness and sustainability in electronics. The company has shown unit growth, selling around 120,000 devices last year, up from about 88,000 in 2021 and 23,000 in 2018. Fairphone presents itself as a mission-driven business positioned to benefit from EU pushes for circular models and right-to-repair policies. Fairphone, founded in 2013 in Amsterdam, is a social enterprise building "ethical electronics" and manufactures the repairable Fairphone 2. The Fairphone 2 runs Android, retails for €399, and is notable for high repairability; the company sells modules (battery, camera, display, speakers) on its website. Fairphone prioritizes ethics across the supply chain, from mining to manufacturing to the device's lifecycle. In recent months it raised €20 million across equity crowdfunding, a social-impact funding round, and debt financing. The company said it will use the funding to sustainably scale operations, research new products and business models, and expand sales efforts in untapped European markets. Fairphone also appointed Eva Gouwens as CEO; founder Bas van Abel will remain involved as a member of the supervisory board. Fairphone is a Dutch startup founded in 2010 that builds smartphones designed for ethical sourcing, repairability, durability, and transparency. The company sources minerals—mostly from Congo—from mines outside conflict zones and assembles phones in China while aiming to ensure fair wages for workers. Its products emphasize long shelf life to reduce e-waste, and for each phone sold Fairphone directs €3 to a service organization involved in recycling electronic waste in developing countries. The company produces relatively small volumes rather than mass-market device quantities. Financially, Fairphone recently raised about €2.5M via a crowdfunding convertible loan and previously attracted €6.5M from impact investors in 2017. The company plans to use the crowdfunding proceeds to launch a new phone and expand its presence in Southern Europe and the Scandinavian countries. Fairphone designs modular, repairable smartphones with the stated aim of supporting longevity and sustainability across the electronics value chain. Its core product emphasizes repair-by-design, though the company recently ended support for its first handset after suppliers retired spare parts and chipset makers stopped issuing updates. Fairphone used crowdfunding to build that first device and says it has sold more than 135,000 smartphones over four years. The company plans to scale its approach to create a circular economy for consumer electronics, targeting material sourcing, production, distribution and recycling. It intends to bring suppliers and consumers along to build a viable market for fairer electronics and to negotiate longer component availability, Fairtrade gold sourcing and better working conditions. Fairphone has also appointed Eva Gouwens as managing director to grow the organization and its value-chain impact. Fairphone is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise aiming to produce the most ethical smartphone, with a focus on longevity and repairability. Its flagship device in this campaign was the Fairphone 2, offered via pre-order at an average price of €525 (VAT included). In two months close to 17,500 pre-orders generated roughly €9 million. Those funds will kick-start production and allow the organisation to continue investing in social impact projects. Fairphone published a cost breakdown to show buyers what their payments support. Founder and CEO Bas van Abel has discussed the company’s model and ambitions in interviews.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2021

KITRO builds devices that fit any trash bin containing a weighing scale and cameras and uses artificial intelligence to identify, track and monitor disposed food. The company has deployed about 80 devices across Switzerland, Germany, Brussels and Australia and has run over 200 measurements to date. KITRO says customers can reduce food waste by up to 60% and recover up to 8% of food profit margins. The startup has recorded over 1 million in revenue and employs 14 people. Proceeds from recent financing will be used to expand the product offering and grow the team to meet rising demand. KITRO plans to strengthen its position in the German market and accelerate market entry in France and Austria, and it has announced a Series A of CHF 3.5 million closing in Q2 2022 to support those plans. KITRO has developed a device that fits onto existing trash cans and automatically measures and tracks the amount of food tossed into them. Managers receive regular reports showing where they can cut food waste and reduce costs. The system was developed by co-founders Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi Mackenzie working with engineers from ETH Zurich and EPFL. The company aims to help reduce food waste in line with global sustainability goals and to support customers in lowering operational costs. KITRO received a CHF50,000 FIT Digital Seed grant to help finance its market launch and growth. The startup, based in Vaud, is also supported by Innovaud via coaching tools and partner networks. KITRO builds a fully automated food-waste measurement system comprising a hardware KITRO box and accompanying software to help restaurants and hotels identify, track and monitor food waste. The startup says its solution can reduce avoidable food waste by up to 60%. KITRO completed 12 pilots with partners such as Mercure hotels and has ongoing pilots with ETH and EPFL. The team is developing 50 upgraded devices that are ready for pre-order, with first shipments planned for May 2019. KITRO completed its first financing round backed by private business angels from Zürich and Geneva; the funds will be used to accelerate development and complete the first 50 units. The company has also received grants from programs including the Climate KIC accelerator and a booking.com grant, and was nominated for a milestone award by hotelrevue.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2021

The Renewal Workshop is a technology‑enabled service provider that powers circular business for apparel and home goods brands. It offers impact‑driven white‑label recommerce and renewal solutions, including a user‑centric recommerce platform and a trade‑in application. Those tools are available in multiple languages and currencies and are used across the US and EU by partners such as The North Face, Tommy Hilfiger, and Coyuchi. TRW connects resale and renewal services to help brands increase revenue through resale while reducing environmental impact. The company operates facilities in Oregon and Amsterdam and is based in Cascade Locks, Ore. It intends to use the new funds to continue expanding operations and its business reach. The Renewal Workshop is a Cascade Locks, Ore.-based provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands, operating a zero-waste system that recovers the full value of produced garments. Its services include garment and textile renewal, recommerce management, and circular business-model strategy for brand partners. Brand partners receive impact data on water, carbon, and chemicals saved through the partnership. To date the company has diverted over two hundred thousand pounds of apparel from waste. The company raised $5.5M in a Series A to support growth and expansion. With the funding it has opened its first European renewal facility in Amsterdam and plans further expansion in Europe.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2021

Founded in 2013 and based in Hastingues in southwest France, Patatam operates B2B resale and collection solutions for the fashion sector, offering 'second hand as-a-service' to retailers and marketplaces. The company runs collection and resale operations integrated with more than 15 brands and over 300 partner points of sale or collection, and currently processes and ships more than 200,000 garments per month. Patatam employs about 120 people and positions itself as a leader in circular fashion for large retailers, specialty chains and e-commerce platforms. Its core product is an end-to-end logistics and resale service that supports partners such as Auchan, Carrefour, Leclerc, Kiabi, Gémo, Décathlon and Spartoo. Patatam plans to use new funding to reinforce its supply chain and improve logistics to meet rising partner demand and to expand into new markets, starting with Spain where it has launched Carrefour corners and added client deployments. Patatam is an ecommerce site that purchases and re-sells second-hand children’s clothing. The Biarritz-based company is currently active in France, Spain and the UK. It has raised €3 million in new funding to support expansion across Europe. The startup is working on ambitious industrialization and optimization of its internal processes to widen its offering and extend its customer reach to 10 countries by the end of 2018. It is targeting further expansion into Northern Europe by the end of the year. Management says the financing will help Patatam stand out as a European leader for online retailing of second-hand children’s wear.

Led · Equity · Apr 2021

SOS Accessoire is a French startup that provides tools to diagnose home-appliance problems, direct access to spare parts, and video tutorials aimed at amateur repairers. The company says sourcing spare parts is difficult due to hundreds of suppliers and professional-oriented instructions, and positions itself to simplify that process for consumers. It estimates it saved half a million appliances in 2020, avoiding roughly 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions (equivalent to the annual emissions of 4,375 French people). SOS Accessoire highlights its size, spare-parts availability and catalog/database as competitive advantages versus rivals such as Spareka and Adepem. The startup cites a large addressable market, noting the EU spare-parts market is worth €4.1bn and that around 80% of appliances are replaced rather than repaired. Founder Olivier de Montlivault frames the opportunity as both environmental impact and a chance to change consumer behavior around appliance replacement.