Months of 3am calls, late night meet-ups and building cross-border relationships seem rather apt for a startup referred to as the “Tinder for Trash.” But for CiRCLR founders Sara and Chris, the many weeks of early hour business pitches to policymakers, businesses, investors and global startup communities around the world have not been without reward.
Northland parents of four, Sara Smeath and Chris Saunders, have been selected to present their business, CiRCLR, on stage at the United Nations Climate Conference COP27 in Egypt as part of a global cohort of top technologies addressing climate change.
CiRCLR is a new startup from New Zealand, whose technology separates waste from wasted opportunities, by matchmaking businesses to create circular economies. Every exchange provides sustainable transparency for businesses, their consumers and lenders.
“We see CiRCLR as a no-brainer for businesses, by extracting more value from their resources while reducing waste sent to landfill. We’re helping break silos across industries with more diverse supply-chains, smaller carbon footprints and access to green finance with sustainable actions they can prove,” said Chris.
At COP27, Sara and Chris are focusing on promoting CiRCLR as the way to connect the dots for businesses, by simplifying circular economies and unlocking a $600 billion dollar "wasted" opportunity in the food and agriculture sector.
CiRCLR was selected as the first New Zealand business to participate in the GSUP2.0 CivTech Alliance - a cross-border government tech scale-up programme. The programme has opened up new opportunities and soft landings across around the globe.
Government organisations across the European Union and in Australia were excited to learn more about CiRCLR. Using CiRCLR would help them achieve their net-zero goals by breaking industry silos and connecting value added opportunities to supply chains through reducing waste going to landfill.
“Travelling to COP27 not only provides the opportunity to present our business to a global audience and meet those we have started conversations with, but we look forward to further connecting to global policymakers, industry and others who are passionate about making a difference.”
