Aavishkaar Capital, Circulate Capital invest $18 million in NEPRA

The company will utilize the fresh investment to further expand its geographic footprint and scale its operations.

The waste issue in India is significant, with 62 million metric tons of municipal waste generated annually. Though India collects ~90 percent of the waste generated, 80 percent of this goes into open landfills or the environment.

There is an opportunity to reduce the amount of waste that leaks into the environment by investing in the highly fragmented waste management and recycling industry.

Speaking on their investment, Anurag Agrawal, Partner, Aavishkaar Capital, said, ‘Nepra is a unique story in the country that has grown many-fold from the time we made our first investment in 2013 when the company had ideated the concept and epitomises our philosophy of how scale, sustainability and impact can go hand in hand. The success of Nepra’s model has led us to regularly invest across all their rounds and partner them in their journey to take their unique solid waste management solutions pan-India.’

Commenting on the firm’s investment, Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO from Circulate Capital, added, ‘At a time when communities need economic opportunities more than ever, Nepra is poised to scale its unique model of turning plastic pollution from a scourge into a resource for job creation and a thriving circular economy."

He further added, "With this investment, we see tremendous opportunity to disrupt the waste management and recycling value chain while creating financial, environmental and social value. Alongside our corporate investors, we look forward to supporting Nepra’s expansion and scaling their impact across the country."

Sandeep Patel, Co-Founder & CEO, NEPRA, said, “We aim to utilize this Series C funding to further expand our operations nationally and strengthen our capacity to cater to the growing needs of cities for dry waste management solutions. Our ability to work closely with municipalities to organize dry waste collection, improve revenues for the informal sector, and ensure quality feedstock for recyclers, has seen our systems become indispensable and improve efficiency along the entire value chain.”

By combining a people-centric approach with technology-driven processes and solid infrastructure, Nepra claims to offer an integrated, efficient and scalable waste management solution that connects all stakeholders along the value chain, from municipalities to informal waste pickers, as well as recyclers and brand owners.

As the company recognizes the value in both recyclables and non-recyclables, Nepra’s “zero waste to landfill” model diverts recyclable waste away from landfills and delivers quality materials to recyclers. Non-recyclables are used for energy recovery.​