Exclusive: BCCL's Brand Capital leads $225K bet on online waste management startup ExtraCarbon

Using connected devices to manage waste collection, recycling and disposal is an idea that is attracting entrepreneurs and investors alike. Gurgaon-based waste management company Greentooth Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates the online platform ExtraCarbon, for instance, is all set to raise Rs 1.5 crore ($225,000) in a round led by Brand Capital, the ad-for-equity investment arm of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), a person close to the development told TechCircle.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the person said that two more investors--an institutional fund and a high net-worth individual (HNI)--are also likely to pump in money in the company.

Gaurav Joshi, co-founder of ExtraCarbon, however, told TechCircle that the company has received a commitment of Rs 50 lakh from one institutional fund and one HNI, but declined to divulge more information. An MBA from the University of Wales, Joshi was the business development head at Indus World School before he launched Greentooth.

Founded in 2013 by Joshi and Anant Avinash, the startup collects recyclable waste from homes and commercial places, and sends the material to recyclers. It also buys second-hand furniture and household items.

In order to encourage more and more people to pass on their garbage or old furniture and other household items to ExtraCarbon, the company gives customers either cash or reward points that they can accumulate on extracarbon.com dashboard. The points may later be redeemed on jhoomley.com, a separate reward platform on which they can buy appliances, groceries, personal care, beauty products and much more.

The company is present in Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Patiala. It does more than 100 daily pick-ups in the four cities.

ExtraCarbon claims to have generated Rs 1.71 crore in revenue in 2015-16. It had earlier raised Rs 2 crore in funding from two Angel investors and startup accelerator Jaarvis.

A slew of startups have sprung up in the past two years to manage the country's burgeoning waste problem. Some of these include companies such as Bangalore-based EnCashea, which collects scrap in exchange for money, Karma Recycling, Pom Pom and Attero Recycling. According to the Central Pollution Board of India and the Centre for Science and Environment, India generates 14 million tonnes of garbage daily.

In June, Kabadiexpress, a startup which collects scrap from homes and offices and sells it to recycling plants, had raised Rs 1 crore from a Delhi-based investor.

Delhi-based e-waste management startup Karma Recycling Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount in June last year from Infuse Ventures and the Low Carbon Enterprise Fund managed by Environmental Resources Management Foundation.

Noida-based Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd, which is also into e-waste disposal and management, raised $16.5 million in its Series C round led by private equity firm Forum Synergies (India) in August 2014.

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