Waste4Change Receives 76 Billion Series A Funding Led by AC Ventures and Barito Mitra Investama

Waste management platform Waste4Change announced the acquisition of series A funding of $5 million (over 76 billion Rupiah). AC Ventures and PT Barito Mitra Investama become lead in this round, followed by other investors, namely Basra Corporation, Paloma Capital, PT Eight Satu Investa, Living Lab Ventures, SMDV, and the Urban Gateway Fund.

The company will use this fresh capital to expand its reach, increase its waste management capacity to 100 tons per day for the next 18 months, and reach more than 2 thousand tons per day in the next five years.

To achieve this target, the company will involve integration with more digital technologies in process monitoring, waste management flow recording, and automation of material recovery facilities. In addition, the company plans to strengthen partnerships with the informal solid waste sector in Indonesia, which is currently supported by scavengers, waste banks, garbage kiosks, and garbage collectors.

In an official statement delivered today (14/10), Founder and CEO of Waste4Change Mohamad Wise Junerosano said his party was working with the best venture capitalists in the technology sector. According to him, all investors in Waste4Change take ESG seriously and are willing to share their insights in order to create the best waste management solution.

“We are more than ready to realize our shared mission of delivering a faster and greater positive impact on the environment, society and the economy,” said Sano, Bijaksana's nickname.

AC Ventures Founding Partner Pandu Sjahrir added, Waste4Change is a pioneer in providing waste management solutions end-to-end. Sustainability is the main focus of the team with a demonstrated commitment to building a better future for Indonesia.

“The company has achieved product market fit and has the potential to expand across the country. The timing of the company is also ideal because the Indonesian government wants at least a 30% reduction at the source with the remaining 70% handled by 2025," he said.

Waste4Change Solution

Sano explained, Waste4Change was founded in 2014 with the mission of solving waste problems in order to prevent leakage into the environment and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. The company was founded by PT Greeneration Indonesia (Ecoxyztem) and PT Bumi Lestari Bali (EcoBali) in Bekasi, West Java.

There are four solutions offered by Waste4Change, namely Consult, Campaign, Collect, and Create.

Especially for this third service, customers are asked to sort their waste according to the Waste4Change guidelines. Then, Waste4Change will send a team to come to their location to collect the waste directly, then provide a detailed report after the process is complete. Customers also have the option to take the trash to one of the points drop off

Waste4Change is present in 21 cities in Indonesia, managing more than 8.000 tons of waste per year. The company has collected waste from 100 B2B clients and 3.450 household clients. Since 2017, it has obtained a CAGR score of 55,1%.

Waste4Change currently has 108 employees and 141 waste management operators. The company plans to add an additional 52 people to its team and involve more than 300 informal sector and MSMEs in the waste sector (a number of internal and external personnel) to continue driving growth.

With a population of more than 270 million people, Indonesia faces the biggest waste management problem in Southeast Asia, with the recycling rate based on data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is still very low, at 11-12%. However, it is possible that this will soon change after new regulations or policies issued by the government.

Recently, the government launched the Indonesia Clean Waste 2025 program which was inaugurated through Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia 97/2017. This regulation requires all parties to support the realization of 30% reduction in waste from the source (including segregation of waste into separate bins so that certain wastes can be processed into different recycled products) and 70% of waste is processed. The government's aggressive target needs to be achieved before the end of 2025.

The program has also triggered new waste management regulations from local governments and waste management initiatives from the commercial sector. In terms of new market demand, this change has created a surge in the need for responsible waste management, with detailed waste management reports.