PadCare Closes INR 5 Crore Seed Funding Round The company plans to utilize the seed capital to expand the operating geographies in India and beyond in the next 24 months, majorly to set up decentralized material recovery centres
By Teena Jose
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PadCare Labs, a Pune-based startup for sustainable sanitary waste processing and recycling, has closed a INR 5 crore Seed funding round led by Social Alpha with strategic investments from Lavni Ventures, 3i partners, Rainmatter, and Spectrum Impact. The company plans to utilize the seed capital to expand the operating geographies in India and beyond in the next 24 months, majorly to set up decentralized material recovery centres. The clean-tech startup will also continue to invest heavily in advancing its patented 5D recycling technology and for product commercialization.
"With the seed investment, we look forward to expanding our sustainable menstrual hygiene management services to residential buildings and communities. We have set up two sanitary waste material recovery centres now and aim to commission six more by FY2023. We're also working towards creating markets for reclaimed pulp and plastic," said Ajinkya Dhariya, founder and CEO, PadCare.
PadCare's unique recycling technology closes the loop of the menstrual hygiene economy by generating recyclable output out of used pads, which would otherwise take up to 800 years to decompose. The recycled output is further used to make paper and plastic-based objects. They also provide pad vending machines to enhance the accessibility to menstrual products, according to an official statement by the company.
"We are excited to be a part of PadCare Labs' journey since the company is tackling environmental, economic, and social challenges related to menstrual waste, an often ignored waste category. We believe their proprietary technology to recycle used pads is a game-changing innovation that can disrupt the market and have significant social and environmental impact in the coming years," said Smita Rakesh, VP and partner, Social Alpha.
PadCare was founded in 2018 by Ajinkya Dhariya with an aim to revolutionize India's menstrual hygiene economy by making period choices sustainable without changing user preferences.
