Circular Economy Startups

STAR'S TECH develops products from discarded starfish (a marine waste), including an eco-friendly de-icing agent (ECO-ST1), a starfish-derived collagen cosmetic ingredient (PENELLAGEN), and a natural liquid fertilizer. The company focuses on upcycling marine waste into materials for road de-icing, cosmetics, and agriculture.

1 investor

Steeper Energy develops a proprietary hydrothermal liquefaction technology called Hydrofaction that converts biomass and organic waste streams from forestry, agriculture, animal, and municipal solid waste into renewable biocrude oil. This biocrude can be refined into renewable fuels compatible with existing engines and energy infrastructure, supporting decarbonization and waste management.

1 investor

Stellai builds an AI vision co-pilot mounted on material-handler machines that detects objects and hazards in real time without pre-training. It is aimed at machine operators at recycling plants to identify hazardous waste early during pre-sorting.

1 investor

Stella Environmental operates and manages municipal waste transfer stations, providing skilled operators, drivers, trailers, and heavy equipment to move waste to long-haul trailers and landfills. It also offers landfill tippers and bulk liquid or solid hauling services (leachate, sludges, organics, recycling residuals) for waste-industry customers in the United States.

1 investor

Stella McCartney is a luxury fashion brand offering apparel, sportswear, and vegan bags made from responsible and vegan materials, with products handcrafted in Italy. Its lines include seasonal collections and a collaboration line with adidas.

1 investor

Stocklear operates a B2B marketplace and liquidation auction platform where retailers and brands sell excess inventory, overstocks, and customer returns as pallets and job lots to professional buyers such as discount stores, wholesalers, and second-hand shops. It serves major European brands and retailers.

1 investor

Stoked Plastics develops recycled plastic material from collected ocean waste, particularly water bottles, for use in injection-molded products. The material is marketed as a sustainable alternative to virgin plastic for manufacturers seeking to meet ESG commitments and environmental responsibility goals.

1 investor

Storey is a virtual closet app that digitizes users' wardrobes to make clothing more wearable, shareable, and re-sellable. The platform enables resale and creative reuse of clothing to reduce fashion waste and promote a circular economy.

1 investor

Stork Exchange is a secondhand baby gear marketplace that sells returned, overstock, and lightly used products at discounts up to 70% off retail. The company serves budget-conscious parents seeking affordable alternatives to new baby gear while reducing waste.

1 investor

Structemp Innovations designs and manufactures the Buddy Range—recyclable thermoplastic rubber protective products that shield construction site workers and the public from contact injuries with scaffolding and rebar. The products are engineered with a cradle-to-cradle design philosophy to minimize environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.

1 investor

Sugeo (오늘수거) operates a Korean on-demand waste collection app that picks up household waste—leftover delivery food, old clothes, broken small appliances, used cosmetics—from customers' doorsteps for a per-weight fee. Collected items are sent to its own sorting facility where they go through a four-step process of sorting, separating, washing, and classifying to be turned into recyclable material.

1 investor

Sumitomo Corporation Chemical is a chemical products trading company handling synthetic resins, solvents, industrial chemicals, resin materials, functional and fine chemicals, inorganic chemicals, and semiconductor and battery materials. It serves the automotive, packaging and logistics, home appliance and OA equipment, semiconductor, and secondary battery sectors globally, with a green chemical unit focused on circular economy and carbon neutrality.

1 investor

Sunset Renewable Asset Management is a Canadian, Indigenous-owned company providing recycling and decommissioning services for solar and wind energy assets, using mobile on-site solar panel recycling technology. It also offers reclamation planning, compliance reporting, and material recovery for renewable energy projects across Canada and internationally.

1 investor

SUPASO manufactures insulating packaging made from recycled paper for temperature-sensitive and impact-sensitive shipments across food, pharmaceuticals, and specialty goods industries. The company offers customized, certified climate-neutral solutions designed for cold chain logistics.

1 investor

Superbin builds recycling infrastructure by redesigning waste sorting, collection systems, and logistics so discarded materials can be reused as raw materials. The company focuses on establishing a circular economy in South Korea.

1 investor

Sustonable makes surfaces from post-consumer recycled PET, pre-consumer recycled glass, and raw materials, offering wall coverings, residential floors, tabletops, sinks, and retail displays. The products are used in residential and commercial projects such as kitchens and offices.

1 investor

Swappie sells refurbished iPhones to consumers at lower prices than new devices. The company operates across Europe and the United States.

1 investor

SwatchLOOP is a digital platform that creates Digital Product Passports (DPP) for textile waste and uses AI to recommend correct sorting and collaboration, tracking recycling processes from recyclers to end consumers with data analytics. It serves brands, waste collectors, manufacturers, recycling firms, and upcycling organizations to support circular economy and industrial symbiosis in the textile sector.</parameter> <parameter name="founders">[]

1 investor

Sweet Atoms develops advanced carbon materials using patent-pending processes that convert agricultural, food, and beverage waste biomass into high-performance materials as an alternative to petroleum-derived feedstocks. Its products target industrial sectors including energy, aerospace, automotive, safety, environment, and defence.

1 investor

swisscleantech is a Swiss business association with around 700 members that works to align the economy with climate goals and push Switzerland toward CO2-neutrality by 2050. It develops policy positions, connects business, NGOs and science, and supports member companies on their path to net-zero, including through a circular economy innovation lab and events.

1 investor

Swobbee operates battery swapping stations for rental batteries used in light electric vehicles, and works on recycling and reuse technologies for different battery types. The company focuses on reducing the environmental impact of batteries through shared, swappable infrastructure.

1 investor

Synoro Med redesigns single-use medical devices into reusable ones and operates a cleaning, sterilization, and quality-assurance process to bring them back into service, aiming to cut healthcare waste and greenhouse gas emissions. It serves health systems and healthcare facilities, with its reprocessing solution on the pathway for regulatory approval in Canada, the US, and Europe.

1 investor

Syntoil develops a continuous pyrolysis process that converts carbonized residue from waste tires into technical carbon black, recovering valuable resources while reducing fossil fuel consumption, waste, and CO2 emissions. The company operates installations that process approximately 6,000 tons of tires annually.

1 investor

Systemiq is a certified B Corp that works as a system-change organization, partnering with civil society, investors, governments, businesses, and finance to design and develop solutions for sustainability challenges.

1 investor