Vancouver-based startup ChopValue announced a $10.36 million CAD ($7.7 million USD) funding round to expand its home and office products made solely from recycled chopsticks.
Alongside the funding, the startup has achieved a company milestone by transforming its 100 millionth chopstick into new products, saving them from ending up in landfills. Since its founding in 2016, ChopValue has turned millions of chopsticks into products such as tables, desks and chairs.
The funding round was led by unnamed technology entrepreneurs, as well as corporate venture capital funds and existing investors. The funds will be used to expand ChopValue’s operations, particularly to better serve B2B partnerships, increase production capacity, and develop new product lines.
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ChopValue was founded in 2016 by Felix Böck and Hugh Grady, and has raised $12.92 million CAD over three funding rounds since its inception.
ChopValue currently employs over 150 people from six countries. It has also stored over 136,000 kg of carbon into new products from material collected by over 1,700 community restaurant partners.
Böck hopes that the decentralized microfactory approach that uses local resources for local production to meet local demand will eventually enable small business owners to own ChopValue franchises. ChopValue is looking to open over 100 new locations in the near future.
ChopValue also recently signed “strategic growth agreements” for market entries in Japan, Singapore, Central Europe, and the United States. The World Economic Forum forecasts circular products like those sold by ChopValue to be a $4.5 trillion industry by 2030, with the goal of achieving sustainability becoming more commonplace for companies today.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Pawel Czerwinski.