트래쉬버스터즈
4 known investors
Trashbusters offers a single-source platform for event supplies and infrastructure, spanning 14 product categories such as tents and lighting, so event planners can source everything in one place instead of coordinating multiple vendors. It serves event organizers in South Korea.
Also known as (주)트래쉬버스터즈 · Trashbusters · 트래쉬버스터즈
Investors · 4
Also in the syndicate · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026트래쉬버스터즈 ((주)트래쉬버스터즈, Trashbusters) is a South Korean company that replaces single-use tableware with reusable cups and dishes supplied as a managed service. Its core operation is a closed loop: the company produces and lends reusable containers, collects them after use, sanitizes and washes them through an in-house multi-stage process (described as six stages of washing and sterilization), and redelivers them. Damaged reusable dishware is ground and reprocessed into new products, which the company presents as a resource-circulation system.
The business runs along two lines. The first is a subscription service for everyday venues — corporate in-house cafes and pantries, cinemas, and general cafes and restaurants — where washed cups are delivered daily, users drop them into dedicated collection bins, and the customer receives ESG data reports on environmental performance. The second is an integrated festival and event service, launched as a one-stop offering that bundles reusable tableware rental for events with rental of general event supplies and sound equipment, food catering, and on-site operating staff; inquiry paths are split into large-scale events with on-site operation management, small-scale rental-only service, and other event services. The company's website is published in Korean, English and Chinese (traditional), and consultations are handled by phone and email on weekdays 10:00–18:00.
Company profiles list an establishment date of 5 September 2019, CEO 곽재원 (Kwak Jae-won), classification as a small or medium-sized joint-stock company in the rubber and plastics industry, and an address in the Seoul Startup Hub annex, Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Founding story
Trashbusters was started in 2019 to reduce single-use waste generated at festivals and events, beginning with a reusable-tableware rental service that reportedly reached about 200 festival and event bookings within three months of launch. The founding team combined 곽재원, a former Seoul city festival director who serves as CEO, 최안나 (CBO), previously CEO of a branding design firm, and 곽동열 (CCO), who leads facility operations. As COVID-19 spread and event demand fell, the company pivoted in April 2021 to renting reusable cups to corporate customers, extending from 2020 onward into in-house cafes and pantries, cinemas and general cafes.
Business model
The company owns and operates the reusable containers and the washing and logistics infrastructure, charging customers for use rather than selling tableware. For venues it operates a recurring subscription (daily delivery of washed cups, collection bins, replacement of single-use items) bundled with ESG reporting; for festivals and events it sells project-based rental and operations packages that can include event supplies, sound equipment, catering and staffing. Revenue reported by data providers was KRW 3.14bn in 2023, KRW 5.07bn in 2024 and KRW 3.70bn in 2025, with net losses in each of those years; the company itself cites 2024 revenue of KRW 5.4bn.
Subscription fees from venues using reusable cups on a recurring basis, plus per-event rental and service fees for festival and event packages covering tableware, event supplies, sound equipment, catering and labor support.
Traction
Reported operating metrics include cumulative reusable-container use passing 2 million by February 2022, monthly usage above 400,000 at that time and daily supply of roughly 20,000 units to corporate customers, with about 30 additional large corporates evaluating adoption; 150+ B2B customers and 100,000 reusable items per day by December 2023; cumulative reduction of 45 million single-use items cited in a recruiting profile; and cumulative rentals of over 100 million reusable containers. Cumulative disclosed investment is stated at KRW 9.4bn. Headcount is reported as 18 (national pension data) on one profile and 30 on another.
Latest developments
The company has opened an integrated festival and event service combining reusable tableware rental with event-supply and sound-equipment rental, catering and staffing. In May 2025 it was selected for the Baby Unicorn program, and in 2025 it appeared in the second cohort of the Gyeonggi climate-tech incubation program's ECO-TECH database, with productization of its automated washing technology planned for 2025. Financial filings summarized by data providers show 2025 revenue of KRW 3.70bn, down from KRW 5.07bn in 2024, with negative equity of KRW 1.30bn and a net loss of KRW 2.23bn for 2025.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Trashbusters is described as an early entrant and one of the leading providers in Korea's single-use-replacement market, competing with a growing number of reusable-container washing and service providers. It claims the largest domestic reusable-tableware operating record, cumulative rentals of more than 100 million units, and government designation as a Baby Unicorn high-growth technology startup.
Positions itself on owning the full loop — product design, collection, automated high-pressure/high-temperature/UV washing, logistics and redelivery — so that reusables can be offered at hygiene and cost levels comparable to disposables, and on bundling event tableware with related event services (supplies, sound, catering, staffing) in a single package. It also recycles worn containers into new products and supplies customers with ESG performance data.
Technology
The company has developed an automated washing system for reusable tableware that combines ultra-high-pressure spraying (cited as 100 bar, and as 120 bar with purified-water rinsing in a later description), high temperature (70–80°C), UV pulse sterilization, air-blower drying, and AI-based sorting and contamination detection, with water recirculation intended to cut labor, operating cost, water and energy use and to allow high-volume, high-speed operation. A patent for what it describes as the world's first automated reusable-cup device was registered in December 2024, with productization planned for 2025. Collected containers pass through a six-step wash and sterilization process designed in-house.
Go-to-market
Corporate in-house cafes and pantries, cinemas, cafes and restaurants, franchise operators, festival and event organizers, local governments and public institutions. Named customers and partners include Samsung Electronics, Naver, Kakao, KT, HYBE, KB Kookmin Bank, AhnLab, Hyundai Green Food, LG Electronics, LG U+, Starbucks, and the Seoul and Gyeonggi governments.
Geography
Headquartered in Seoul (Mapo-gu, Seoul Startup Hub annex, near Gongdeok Station) and serving customers across South Korea, including cafes, festivals, local governments, public institutions and corporate events nationwide; plans for branch establishment to widen service coverage were set out from 2023, and the company states it is preparing international expansion.
History
Milestones reported by the company and program pages include selection for a Seoul city youth project investment program in September 2019, the launch of the corporate in-house cafe service in April 2021 (passing 50 corporate customers within a month), a pre-Series A raise in December 2021, a Series A in May 2023, surpassing 100,000 reusable items per day in subscription service with more than 150 corporate customers in December 2023, registration in December 2024 of a patent described as the world's first automated reusable-cup device, and selection in May 2025 for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Baby Unicorn" program. In 2025 it was included in the second cohort of the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center / Gyeonggi Province climate-tech incubation program's ECO-TECH database.
Risks & controversies
Third-party financial data show consecutive annual net losses (KRW 4.41bn in 2023, KRW 2.04bn in 2024, KRW 2.23bn in 2025), a revenue decline in 2025 versus 2024, and negative total equity of KRW 1.30bn as of 31 December 2025. The company also notes that multiple washing-service competitors are entering the reusable-container market, and its early festival-driven business was disrupted by COVID-19, prompting a pivot to corporate customers.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsOne-stop event service bundling reusable tableware rental, event supply rental, sound equipment rental, food catering and staffing support.
Company reports registration of a patent for what it describes as the world's first automated reusable-cup device.
Daily subscription volume exceeded 100,000 containers and corporate customers surpassed 150.
Pre-Series A raise announced 4 February; Strong Ventures led with Base Investment and HYK Partners participating.
Corporate in-house cafe service launched, passing 50 corporate customers within one month.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- 트래쉬버스터즈trashbusters.kr · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does 트래쉬버스터즈 do?
- Korean reusable-tableware company renting and washing multi-use cups and dishes for festivals, offices, cinemas and cafes.
- Who are 트래쉬버스터즈's investors?
- 트래쉬버스터즈's investors include Laguna Investment.