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Circularise, a supply chain software platform for end-to-end traceability, has raised 11 million euros in a Series A funding round led by Brightlands Venture Partners, joined by industry players Asahi Kasei and Neste the company announced on Nov. 17. Previous investor 4impact Capital also participated in the round, which has also been supplemented with grants from the European Commission. 

Circularise said the fresh capital would be used to advance its mission to support the shift from a linear to a circular economy in industrial supply chains. 

With its blockchain-based digital product passports, Circularise enables customers to improve resource use, verify provenance, conduct carbon footprint and impact assessments across supply chains. This is especially relevant in complex supply chains such as those of chemicals, plastics, metals, and critical raw materials, but also automotive, electronics, packaging or construction. 

Yet unlike other companies active in the digital product passport space, Circularise enables suppliers to share sensitive data, like material composition, environmental footprint or LCA data, without risking privacy and confidentiality. To that end, the company has developed proprietary patent pending Smart Questioning technology, that allows suppliers to be in control of which data they want to share. 

The software uses a public blockchain instead of a private one, enabling a high level of verification of correctness of data — and therefore trust — while maintaining data privacy and preventing high energy consumption.

As well, by creating transparency in the supply chain, Circularise also helps brands and OEMs gain insight into their Scope 3 emissions and other metrics, improving compliance and the ability to meet customer demand and regulatory requirements regarding Digital Product Passports, the SEC’s proposed climate risk disclosure rules, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. 

“The Circularise team truly understands the challenge of bringing transparency to complex supply chains in the chemical industry and has developed a unique portfolio of tools to enable and facilitate this transition,” said Mary McCarthy, a partner at Brightlands Venture Partners.

“We believe that combining the unique skill set of the Circularise team with the deep sector expertise of Brightlands Venture Partners will allow Circularise to accelerate in bringing supply chain transparency to the chemical industry.”

Circularise also recently launched MassBalancer, its solution for mass balance bookkeeping, in order to support the shift from fossil feedstocks to sustainable alternatives in the plastic and chemicals industry. 

“Our mission has always been clear: accelerating the shift towards a circular economy through supply chain traceability and transparency,” said Circularise co-founder Jordi de Vos.

“This funding round enables us to scale our business operations, product, R&D as well as to expand our international team. It will not only accelerate our growth as a leading software provider for supply chain traceability, but also support the transition to a circular economy on a global scale.”

Circularise was founded in 2016 by Mesbah Sabur and Jordi de Vos at Delft University of Technology. Over the last six years, with the support of the EIT Raw Materials, the European Commission, angel investors, and now VC’s, the company grew to 40 people, expanded to international markets such as Japan, joined the collaborative ecosystem Catena-X to strengthen a secure data exchange in the automotive industry and partnered with multinational companies including Asahi Kasei, Covestro, Domo Chemicals, Marubeni, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Neste, LyondellBasell, Philips Domestic Appliances, Porsche and Trinseo.