Meet the Circular Entrepreneurs | Investment Ready Program 2021

The Investment Ready Program, whose main partner is ING Netherlands Foundation, is our five-month accelerator for impact entrepreneurs with scalable solutions to global problems. We guide a cohort of selected participants through a systematic review of their business strategy, model, and team before they craft a validated growth and investment plan. We do this to help them attract the right investor and secure funding that matches their growth ambitions. This year, the Investment Ready Program went international! Read on to meet the IRP alumni of 2021.

Vytal offers a system for reusable food containers. The production and transport of food packaging cost a lot of energy and resources, only for it to be thrown away after less than 30 minutes of use. VYTAL wants offers a digital, reusable food container system that finally offers every hungry person, restaurateur, supermarket, and delivery service an inexpensive and sustainable alternative to disposables and plastic waste.

Circular IQ helps businesses activate their circularity, to empower the transition towards a restorative and regenerative circular economy. Their three Circularity Programs are designed to help businesses improve their impact on resource depletion, climate change and waste creation. These programs support teams in different stages of their circularity journey: from the very first steps to anchoring a solid circularity baseline in their organisations.

Colferrox provides the innovative treatment of contaminated groundwater, wastewater, and soil with colloidal (iron oxide) nanoparticles. Large amounts of contaminants (heavy metals, Cyanide, etc.) are adsorbed onto the surface of colloidal iron oxide particles. The particles can be injected into the subsurface and used in separation tanks and other water treatment facilities. This solution is cost-effective, easily implemented, and environmentally friendly.

Moyu notebooks and other paper products are made of sustainable stone paper. The stone paper notebooks are erasable and rewritable and can be used over 500 times. A part of Moyu’s profits goes to planting new trees.

Seenons is a platform that collects specific waste streams sustainably using electric vehicles, cargo bikes, and reverse logistics, and connects these streams to startups that upcycle and resell these materials. The goal is to make companies waste-free, by gradually collecting more and more residual streams and recycling them in a circular way.

HNST is a premium denim brand that designs and creates circular jeans. The items are made from used denim and TENCEL™ in a clean and fully transparent production process. The jeans are designed with recycling in mind, omitting unnecessary materials such as studs or additional labels. HNST is a carbon positive company, producing 5 times less CO2 than emitted for an ordinary pair of jeans and offsetting their remaining carbon footprint planting trees.

Resortecs makes garment recycling easy. Removing zippers and buttons from garments requires a lot of manual work, making the process costly and time-consuming. Resortecs developed a thread that can be used with existing machines, designed to dissolve at a high temperature once the garment is ready for recycling – paving the way for industry-wide circular fashion production.

Waterweg creates climate-adaptive pavement from clay dredged from the Maas river in Rotterdam. The material is water permeable, which makes for a rainwater proof pavement. In this way, Waterweg bricks upcycle a growing residual stream into a product that helps cities adapt to climate change.

SCOON is an online department store for sustainable fashion and beauty products. Scoon’s mission is to introduce people to exciting new brands and help them to make the switch to sustainable. The founders are dedicated to finding brands that actively make a positive impact, whether it’s on your skin, the environment, or local communities, without compromising on quality and style.

Reliving is a curated online marketplace for second-hand furniture and home decor. Their goal is to show that there are enough beautiful products we can furnish our homes with. By removing barriers such as transport, findability, and high-quality supply and providing insight into the CO2 savings by buying second-hand, Reliving hopes to encourage users to prefer second-hand to new.