ChopValue, a Canada-based company that creates sustainable products from recycled materials, has on Tuesday closed a $7.7 million funding round to expand its decentralized Microfactory network.
ChopValue said in a statement that the funding round was led by two high-profile technology entrepreneurs with expansion interest in Asia Pacific and Europe.
Also joining the round were corporate venture capital funds and existing investors.
The funds will be used to expand ChopValue’s operations, particularly to better serve business to business (B2B) partnerships.
The focus will be on increasing production capacity and developing new product lines.
The company also plans to invest in research and development with the goal of optimizing its micromanufacturing principles and continuing to reduce its environmental footprint.
ChopValue is looking to announce the opening of 100+ new locations in the near term, and will be hiring a corporate team which will be working locally to boost the demand for ChopValue’s products in the Asia Pacific region.
“The expansion of the Microfactory network demonstrates a steadily increasing awareness for sustainable issues and creating demand for sustainable goods and services, all in line with Singapore’s Green Plan 2030,” said Evelyn Hew, Founder and Managing Director of ChopValue Singapore.
The company also recently signed Strategic Growth Agreements for market entries in Japan, Singapore, Central Europe, and the United States.
The new scale achieved through its Microfactory network is allowing the company to serve strategic B2B clients for projects such as multi-restaurant build outs, while continuing to meet end-customer demand.
ChopValue is a circular economy franchise designing and manufacturing products using an innovative, high-performance material engineered entirely from recycled chopsticks.
Since its founding in 2016, its “urban harvesting” approach has saved over 100 million chopsticks from landfill, turning them into beautiful and sustainable products for the home and office.
In Singapore alone, ChopValue has approximately 10 million chopsticks recycled since the grand opening of the first local Microfactory in 2021.
ChopValue said it is the first circular economy franchise in Singapore and its presence in the market marks a turning point in the conversations on reducing carbon emissions taking place in Singapore.
These milestones align with ChopValue’s rapid growth since its inception in 2016, as demonstrated by the creation of 150+ jobs across six countries through 63 in-development franchises, and the storing of 136,000+kg of carbon into new products from material collected by 1,700+ community restaurant partners.
“Commitment to demonstrating that the circular economy should become the norm when our natural resources are strained, and our landfills continue to grow,” said Felix Böck, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of ChopValue.
He hopes that the “decentralised Microfactory approach that uses local resources for local production to meet local demand will also give a reason to rethink globalised supply chains,” as ChopValue enables small business owners to own local ChopValue franchises.
By continuing to expand its network of Microfactories, ChopValue is paving the way for a more sustainable future.
The unique approach to commercializing its “waste” to “resource” philosophy allows it to scale responsibly as each Microfactory is tailored to its end market size and needs.
“ChopValue’s innovative approach to circular manufacturing, which has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the manufacturing industry, is a vision that’s coming to life and has tremendous potential for positive impact,” said Andy Burt, one of ChopValue’s strategic growth partners.
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