Sydney-based recycling and reverse logistics platform ReSmart has closed a $1.138 million equity crowdfunding raise with early-stage global venture capital firm Antler backing the company for the fourth consecutive round since the startup was founded in 2019.
The raise, which drew 783 investors on the OnMarket platform, comes as ReSmart, formerly known as RecycleSmart, says it is approaching breakeven, with annual recurring revenue up 44 per cent year on year and business-to-business revenue more than doubling over the same period.
CEO Giorgio Baracchi, who co-founded ReSmart with Marco Prayer, says Singapore-based Antler's continued participation across every funding round reflects the strength of the company's capital-light model.
"Antler wrote our very first cheque - we were part of cohort one in Australia," Baracchi tells Business News Australia, referring to Antler's inaugural Sydney accelerator program in 2019.
"Importantly, they've backed us in every single round since. That level of continued conviction from your first investor is rare and speaks to the strength of what we've built."
The company, which has previously raised $4 million, operates a technology platform that connects households, businesses and councils with collection and recycling services across seven capital cities.
It has completed more than 445,000 collections and diverted over 2.3 million kilograms of waste from landfill since inception.
The company also says it has become one of Australia’s larger doorstep recycling and reverse logistics platforms, operating across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart.
ReSmart works with 29 local councils and counts Qantas, Westpac, Canva, Lululemon and The Iconic among its brand partners.
Annualised revenue currently sits at $3.9 million, based on monthly turnover achieved in April.
Baracchi says the B2B segment is now the primary growth engine, with the platform's asset-light approach allowing it to scale without the heavy capital expenditure that has weighed on traditional waste and recycling operators.
"Commercial clients offer higher contract values, recurring and predictable volumes, and increasingly face mandatory waste reporting and sustainability obligations," he says.
"Businesses don't need to be convinced that recycling matters - they need a reliable, compliant, and cost-effective solution. That's exactly what we provide.
"Residential remains important for brand and network density, but B2B is where we're focused for scale."
Baracchi describes ReSmart as a business that "operates at the intersection of technology and sustainability".
"We've built a platform that makes recycling and responsible waste diversion genuinely convenient at scale," he says.
"What sets us apart is that we're not a traditional waste hauler. We use technology to aggregate demand, optimise collections, and generate valuable data on waste streams.
"Most incumbents in this space are asset-heavy logistics businesses with little innovation.
"We've created a capital-light, scalable model that improves margins as volume grows - and we're doing it in a sector facing significant regulatory and ESG tailwinds."
Notably, Baracchi says ReSmart is approaching breakeven this month, which he sees as a significant milestone for the company.
"Our unit economics are proven - contribution margins improve with density and volume," he says.
"This raise is not about funding losses; it's about accelerating growth on a model that works."
ReSmart's growth trajectory stands in contrast to the mixed fortunes of Australia's broader recycling sector.
The collapse of soft plastics recycler REDcycle in November 2022 exposed structural gaps in the nation's recycling infrastructure and shook public confidence in kerbside recycling schemes.
REDcycle had been stockpiling thousands of tonnes of soft plastics in warehouses rather than recycling them, prompting supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths to suspend their in-store collection programs.
Australia generated 75.6 million tonnes of waste in the 2022-23 financial year, with 34 per cent going to disposal rather than recovery, according to the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
ReSmart describes its business as Australia's only national doorstep service handling more than 100 "problematic material streams" under one roof.
Baracchi has likened ReSmart to a last-mile logistics company, operating an Uber-like platform that supports independent drivers nationally who collect discarded items from households and business for a fee and transport them to hundreds of partners, including recyclers, who process the items collected.
The company rebranded from RecycleSmart to ReSmart earlier this year to reflect an expanded scope beyond residential recycling into broader reverse logistics and circular economy services for enterprise clients.
ReSmart now plans to use the fresh capital to deepen its B2B offering and expand its council footprint nationally, with Baracchi flagging ambitions to become the default platform layer for collections and circular logistics across Australia.
Baracchi sees Antler's backing as critical to its goals.
"Beyond capital, Antler has been a genuine partner," he says.
"They opened doors to their portfolio network, supported early hiring and added credibility that helped us attract subsequent investors.
"As one of Australia's most recognised early-stage VCs, having them behind us from day one sent a strong signal to the market.
"Their operator network and founder community have also been valuable as we've navigated scaling challenges."
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