Date: April 15, 2008
Source: RecycleBank
RecycleBank Secures $30 Million in Series B Funding from Top Venture Capital Firms
Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers and The Westly Group Join RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners in Funding Successful Recycling Reward Program
RecycleBank, a rewards program that motivates households to recycle, announced today that it has secured $30 million in Series B funding from leading venture capital firms, Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers (KPCB), RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners and The Westly Group. RecycleBank will be using this funding to rapidly scale in the United States and continue expansion into Europe in the next 24 months.
KPCB and The Westly Group join RecycleBank's current investors, RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners in funding the growth and expansion of RecycleBank. KPCB has been an early investor in more than 300 information technology and biotech firms for more than 30 years, including Sun Microsystems, Google and Amazon.com. Today, KPCB is actively working with GreenTech innovators and entrepreneurs. Al Gore recently joined KPCB as a partner, securing a strategic alliance with Gore's Generation Investment Management. By combining the network, vision, expertise and global reach of Al Gore and Generation Investment Management, KPCB's goal is to help entrepreneurs change the world.
"Eighty percent of all garbage is recyclable, yet the average residential recycling rate is less than 20 percent. By simply measuring the amount of recycling and rewarding recyclers with real value, RecycleBank has more than doubled recycling rates in every community that's deployed the program to-date," said Trae Vassallo, partner at KPCB. "We've been searching hard for companies that provide real benefits to consumers through being green and we were delighted to find RecycleBank. RecycleBank reduces landfills, reduces energy use and rewards consumers for doing the right thing."
The Westly Group invests in and advises leading CleanTech companies in an effort to accelerate the CleanTech revolution. The company was founded by Steve Westly, who most recently served as the controller and chief fiscal officer the state of California, the world's sixth largest economy. With extensive operating experience in the private and public sectors, from Silicon Valley to Washington and beyond, The Westly Group uses its experiences to give firms the momentum they need to achieve their potential.
"I truly believe that while most people are focusing on biofuels and solar, recycling is on the cutting edge of clean technology – and RecycleBank is the future of recycling," said Steve Westly, managing partner of The Westly Group.
In addition to receiving funding from both KPCB and The Westly Group, both RRE Ventures and Sigma Parthers invested in the Series B round. The two companies were part of RecycleBank's round of Series A funding that was announced in May of 2007. Through the secured Series A funding, RecycleBank was able to expand quickly throughout the Northeast. With this round of Series B funding, RecycleBank will be expanding its program throughout the U.S., Europe and beyond.
"Over the past year, RecycleBank has achieved tremendous growth," said Stuart Ellman, managing partner, RRE Ventures. "With this round of funding, RecycleBank will have the means to continue its expansion in the U.S. and to penetrate the European market as well."
RecycleBank motivates households and communities to recycle by measuring the amount of recyclables from each home and converting the weight into RecycleBank Reward Points. These Points can be viewed and redeemed at www.recyclebank.com with more than 400 national RecycleBank Reward Partners such as Kraft Foods, Evian® Natural Spring Water, Dunkin' Donuts, Stonyfield Farms, Green Mountain Coffee and Coca-Cola, as well as local reward partners like restaurants and grocery stores. Currently, RecycleBank is in more than 40 municipalities throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey. To date, RecycleBank households have already diverted more than 36 million tons of recyclables from landfills.
"Having an investment team that includes RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners, KPCB and The Westly Group is a great compliment to the exceptional team of people at RecycleBank, the value that we are building and our social mission," said Ron Gonen, co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank.
About RecycleBank:
RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle. It does this by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank Reward Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. RecycleBank is simple to implement, market-driven and proven to work, saving municipalities' money and rewarding citizens for their environmental stewardship. RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners are the largest institutional shareholder group and Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO is the largest individual shareholder. RecycleBank is headquartered in New York City and also maintains an office in Philadelphia. Visit www.recyclebank.com for more information.
About Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers:
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is leading the venture community to invest in and accelerate Green technology solutions and policy innovations. The firm has been active in GreenTech initiatives since 1999. KPCB has committed more than $200 million to ventures across the globe that offer green technology products and services, such as better biofuels, renewable energy generation, cleaner transportation, improved energy storage, and higher energy efficiency technologies. More than half the firm's investing professionals are involved in GreenTech investments. www.kpcb.com/greentech Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in over 475 ventures, including AOL, Align Technology, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, LSI Logic, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. The firm has offices in Menlo Park, California, Beijing, China and Shanghai, China.
About RRE Ventures:
Since its founding in 1994, RRE Ventures has been dedicated to helping talented management teams build leading companies in the software, communications, and financial services industries. With $850 million in assets, the firm backs entrepreneurs and management teams that possess the knowledge, vision, and discipline to create market-dominating companies. RRE's team offers a unique combination of management, operations, and investment expertise, as well as an unrivaled network of relationships that has helped build over ninety companies. For more information, visit: www.rre.com.
About Sigma Partners:
Founded in 1984, Sigma Partners is a leading early-stage venture capital firm. The Sigma team uses their deep operational experience to provide entrepreneurs with practical strategic counsel through every phase of company growth. With over $1.5 billion under management and bicoastal offices, Sigma invests in innovative technology startups across the United States. Some of the market leading companies in which Sigma has invested include Atria, Cascade, Clarify, Internet Security Systems, KLA-Tencor, Octel, VeriFone, Vermeer, and Vignette. For more information, please visit www.sigmapartners.com.
About The Westly Group:
The Westly Group is a clean technology-oriented venture capital firm located in Menlo Park, California. We focus primarily on companies with proven revenue streams but are open to investments in all stages of growth. We are looking for teams with innovative technologies to solve the world's most pressing problems. We believe in the power of the passionate entrepreneur—whether sitting in a modern office tower or a dark Silicon Valley garage—to change the world. Our investments tend to be in later stage companies with existing revenue streams and proven technologies. To win in the clean technology space, a company must navigate the halls of government, build a team that knows how to move fast, and meet the modern regulatory standards required of public companies. We pride ourselves on our ability to help our portfolio companies grow and succeed under these conditions.
For more information, contact:
Jonathan Klein
RecycleBank
212.255.0080 Ext. 15
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