Vancouver-based Reusables has secured a $3.6-million CAD seed round as it looks to reduce single-use waste produced by institutional food service operators. The all-equity round was co-led by Amplify Capital, StandUp Ventures, and Sandpiper Ventures, with participation from Emend Vision Fund.
Reusables’ funding will be used to expand enterprise partnerships across North America, grow its team, and develop its model to support large-scale food service and retail operations, Reusables said in a statement.
The University of California rolled out Reusables across its campuses on Earth Day.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Jason Hawkins and COO Anastasia Kiku, Reusables’ hardware-enabled software-as-a-service platform helps food service operators, like university and hospital cafeterias, replace their single-use food packaging with reusable containers.
The startup’s turn-key system allows operators to hand out Reusables’ containers to customers, which can then be returned to designated Reusables drop boxes. Customers are charged for the container if they do not return it within an allotted timeframe.
“Our approach is simple: make reuse more cost-effective and convenient than waste,” Hawkins said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be backed by the best tech and climate investors as we scale real impact, not just optics. Greenwashing won’t solve the waste crisis—technology and execution will.”
Hawkins told BetaKit in an email statement that Reusables is currently deployed at institutions across six states and provinces in North America including California, New York, Ontario, and British Columbia. Kiku said that the startup’s clients reuse over 500,000 containers in just two semesters, which she claimed translates to over 25 tons of packaging waste avoided.
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The seed round is the first external capital raise for Reusables, which has secured $5.9 million in grant funding to date, Hawkins told BetaKit in an email statement. The company claimed its business rapidly expanded in 2024 after shifting away from restaurants, and that it’s now on track to triple its revenue to the multi-millions this year–though declined to specify a figure.
Hawkins added that Reusables currently has 11 employees, and plans to use the funding to add five additional roles across its technology, go-to-market, and customer success teams.
The seed funding round was announced last week on April 22, Earth Day, which the University of California used as an opportunity to announce the rollout of Reusables on its campuses.
Hawkins is an experienced entrepreneur in the food industry, having co-founded Rooted Foods, a farm-to-table grocery delivery service for Queen’s University students. He also served as the director of business development at Burnaby, BC-based grocery delivery company Spud. Kiku’s background, on the other hand, is in professional alpine skiing. The founders were both recognized on last year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Feature image courtesy Reusables.