Circular Economy Startups

Triumvirate Environmental provides waste management, disposal, and environmental health and safety (EHS) consulting services, including hazardous and medical waste handling, spill cleanup, lab decontamination, and wastewater system operation. It serves pharma and biotech firms, hospitals, and advanced manufacturing companies, and runs a Red2Green program that recycles medical waste into plastic lumber.</parameter> <parameter name="founders">[]

1 investor

True Essence Foods develops proprietary mechanical technologies that enhance the flavor of fermented beverages and products such as spirits, wine, coffee, and chocolate, and dry fresh fruits, vegetables, juices, and herbs without heat or high pressure to preserve flavor, aroma, and nutrition. The company targets the food and beverage industry, including distillers and chocolate makers, with a focus on reducing fresh food waste.

1 investor

True Co. makes plastic-free, vegan-certified chewing gum using chicle (a natural tree sap), with sugar-free options sweetened by plant-based xylitol and 100% natural flavours. The company sells its sustainable consumer products through more than 20,000 retail stores worldwide.

1 investor

Trust Clarity offers an AI platform that helps businesses sell surplus and idle inventory by enriching product specs, setting prices, and matching listings to buyers through Google Ads and a private broker network. It also provides AI-informed valuations for excess stock and a marketplace for buyers to browse verified surplus equipment from brands like Broadcom, Cisco, and Juniper.

1 investor

Tryon Environnement collects food biowaste and converts it into bioresources using its Modul'O units. The company operates in the organic waste valorization and circular economy sector.

1 investor

TSUKURU is a hands-on consulting firm that helps launch SDGs-related new businesses, working with manufacturers, retailers, universities, and listed companies on projects such as circular economy models, community value creation, and fan marketing. It also runs corporate innovation training programs and develops beverages, with a stated focus on the Japanese market.

1 investor

A provider of waste and recycling services with a stated focus on sustainability for its customers and communities.

1 investor

Tuvalum sells refurbished premium bikes, including e-bikes, that are inspected, repaired, and validated by mechanics before resale. This product page presents a Cannondale Moterra bike that underwent a full workshop refurbishment covering steering, brakes, drivetrain, wheels, and motor systems.

1 investor

Twintag provides serialized, scannable digital IDs (via QR, RFID, NFC, or links) that attach to products, assets, or packaging to link physical items to digital information. It supports use cases such as EU Digital Product Passports, after-sales support, traceability, circular return-repair-reuse flows, and compliance for manufacturers and retailers, with an admin portal, APIs, and an AI-driven interaction backend.

1 investor

Typha produces a plant-based material derived from typha (cattail) for use as garden mulch, soil amendment, a partial peat replacement in potting mixes, lawn top-dressing, and a growth substrate for oyster mushrooms. The product targets gardeners and growers seeking sustainable soil and cultivation inputs.

1 investor

UmbraCity provides a managed umbrella-sharing service for hotels and workplaces, installing branded umbrella kiosks where guests and employees tap a card to borrow and return umbrellas. The service is offered as a subscription that covers kiosks, umbrellas, branding, and support, with upcycled umbrellas kept in circulation to reduce waste.

1 investor

Unbuilt is an online marketplace for buying and selling premium excess, overstock, discontinued, and pre-owned building materials — including tile, stone, lighting, fixtures, doors, appliances, and architectural salvage. It serves builders, designers, architects, showrooms, dealers, and homeowners across the United States, with a focus on making construction more sustainable and affordable through material reuse.

1 investor

Unearth is a Malaysia-based service that collects unused furniture and home items from people's homes and resells them on marketplaces like Carousell, Shopee, Mudah, and Facebook Marketplace on their behalf. It handles inspection, pricing, photography, listing, packing, shipping, and customer service, splitting sale profits with the owner, and donates or disposes of unsellable items.

1 investor

UNICEL Greens recycles lithium-ion and other batteries using hydrometallurgical and mechanical processes to recover materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and graphite for reuse in the supply chain. It serves EV and battery makers, energy storage and telecom operators, and consumer electronics companies in India.

1 investor

United Wardrobe operated an online marketplace for buying and selling second-hand fashion and clothing across categories such as women's and men's apparel, accessories, and footwear.

1 investor

United Standard recycles discarded wind turbine blades, converting the fiberglass-reinforced composite waste into advanced materials for infrastructure and industrial applications. It targets the disposal problem of end-of-life turbine blades that otherwise end up in landfills.

1 investor

Universal Matter uses its proprietary Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology to convert end-of-life carbon-based waste into graphene-based materials for industrial markets such as asphalt and cement, tire and rubber, paints and coatings, and composites. Its additives improve the strength, durability, and lifespan of industrial materials while reducing material use and emissions.

1 investor

Untuvia develops proprietary technology to recycle down feathers from textile waste into high-quality recycled down for use in the textile and apparel industry. The process is waterless, toxic-free, and significantly more energy and water efficient than conventional methods.

1 investor

UP Catalyst captures CO₂ from flue gases and converts it into carbon nanotubes and battery-grade graphite using its proprietary Molten Salt Carbon Capture and Electrochemical Transformation (MSCC-ET) technology. The company offers a local alternative to imported critical raw materials for battery and carbon-material supply chains.

1 investor

Upcycled Food Association (UFA) is a global membership-based trade association that supports companies, nonprofits, academics, and individuals across the food supply chain working to prevent food waste by growing the upcycled food economy. It offers tiered memberships and runs awareness initiatives such as Upcycled Food Month.

1 investor

Upcycled Foods, Inc. (UP, Inc.) supplies upcycled food ingredients—led by its ReGrained SuperGrain+® platform derived from brewers' spent grain—and offers innovation services that help food and agriculture companies turn byproducts and waste streams into new products. It serves CPG brands, ingredient suppliers, agricultural processors, retailers, foodservice operators, and trade associations.

1 investor

Upgraded offers a subscription model for Mac computers that includes device upgrades every 24 months and device trade-in or recycling programs. The company targets Mac users seeking an alternative to traditional purchase models, operating within the circular economy and consumer electronics space.

1 investor

UpGrain transforms brewery byproducts into protein and fiber-rich ingredients for food manufacturers. The company uses upcycling technology to convert barley from beer production into sustainable ingredients with low environmental impact.

1 investor

UPPACT recycles non-recyclable plastic and textile waste using its UnWastor technology, which melts unsorted, unwashed waste under pressure and friction into high-quality rPT materials and products such as posts and planks. It targets companies with circular goals and large plastic or textile waste streams, positioning itself in the circular economy and recycling sector in the Netherlands.

1 investor