Reboxed, a sustainable tech startup with a mission to help solve the e-waste crisis, has secured 拢1.6 million in seed funding led by ACF Investors.
Founded in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown by friends Phil Kemish and Matt Thorne, Reboxed provides out-of-the-box solutions for retailers and businesses to accelerate the move to a circular economy.聽
The company will use the funds to drive growth and further develop its retail partner programmes and Reboxed for business service. It aims to rehome 100m electronic devices by 2030.
Technology consumption generates more than 50 million tonnes of e-waste every year, with each new device creating an average carbon footprint equivalent to 79kg of CO2.聽 Consumers and retailers are increasingly turning to recommerce solutions to cut down CO2 emissions, with 22m people in Britain considering buying a refurbished phone.聽
The Reboxed platform connects businesses and customers with a better and more sustainable way to buy and sell technology. It offers premium refurbished and pre-owned devices including phones, laptops, tablets and smart watches through a 鈥榣ike new鈥� experience that focuses on quality, consistency and a genuinely circular approach.
The company has rapidly grown by enabling clients in the telecom sector such as Three Mobile to launch a refurbished technology offering to customers of SMARTY, its sim-only brand, without having to invest in the infrastructure.
Reboxed鈥檚 historic investors include Ali-A, a YouTuber with over 20 Million subscribers, ex-founders of Mazuma and Envirophone, Martin McCourt ex-CEO of Dyson, Nick Beighton ex-CEO of ASOS, and the Ministry Of Sound group.聽
鈥淲e want to give everyone access to high quality, great value tech, with a flexible, hassle-free experience,鈥� said Phil Kemish, co-founder and CEO.聽
鈥淢ounting ESG pressures means that businesses are looking for integrated solutions that will help them achieve their climate goals. Reboxed鈥檚 sustainable services help businesses do just that. This latest investment will be used to expand our growing team, build out our technology stack and scale the brand.鈥�
Tim Mills, managing partner, ACF Investors, added: 鈥淎wareness of the need for sustainability is fundamentally changing the retail landscape and driving a trend toward more responsible consumption.聽
鈥淩ecommerce is leading the way and is now growing 11 times faster than traditional retail. But too often the price of sustainability is an unnecessarily compromised customer experience, hence we are delighted to be backing the Reboxed team as they shift the benchmark and for the first time give UK consumers access to premium 鈥渓ike new鈥� products, with all the benefits of recommerce.鈥�