US president Donald Trump described climate change as “a con job” in September and tech guru turned philanthropist Bill Gates, yesterday, softened his stance on climate change by saying “it won’t lead to humanity’s demise” and the world should shift away from obsessing over carbon reduction.
But despite these high profile comments that arguably turn people away from the important climate agenda, the investment in green economy continues.
We’ve picked out four things related to investment in green economy that we’ve seen this week to highlight how there remains significant momentum in this space.
ThePhoneLab raises €2.5m
Netherlands-based tech repairs service provider ThePhoneLab has raised around €2.5 million in a two-part financing round to help it grow on a global scale.
Following an earlier investment through share funding, ROM InWest joined as a co-investor. Plans are in place to use the financing to accelerate ThePhoneLab’s network and further promote repair as a more sustainable alternative to mobile device replacement.
“Our mission is clear: the more devices we can repair, the better,” explained Boris Blijham, founder of ThePhoneLab.
“Thanks to this investment, we can scale our services, expand our network, and make our expertise more widely available. This way, we ensure that more devices last longer, in a way that’s practical, faster, and more sustainable than buying a new one.”
Janet Nieboer, CEO of ROM InWest, commented: “We invest in companies that strengthen the circular economy and reduce waste.
“ThePhoneLab fits perfectly with this strategy: repair is central to their model and makes the company future-proof in a rapidly evolving market.”
ROM InWest said it supports entrepreneurs with capital, knowledge, and networks. ThePhoneLab has premises throughout the Netherlands, but the investment will enable the company to expand across the country and then explore opportunities in Belgium and Germany.
Hived announces expansion into eight UK cities and towns
Parcel delivery company Hived is putting its recent $42m series B funding round to use, driving growth outside of London.
The company announced this week it will now deliver parcels through its fully electric fleet in Bath, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Poole, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Worthing.
Hived wants to build a nationwide logistics network, challenging incumbent carriers with a delivery model built from the ground up for e-commerce. In London, Hived already works with retailers such as Nespresso, Liberty, Gousto, and John Lewis.
Mondra raises £10m in series A funding
The supply chain intelligence platform Mondra, which has a long-established coalition with the British Retail Consortium, has raised £10 million in series A funding.
The investment was led by AlbionVC and Planet A, and will be used by Mondra to fuel European expansion and additional growth in the UK. Customers of Mondra’s already include retailers Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, and Co-op.
Other investors in this funding round included Swisscom, PeakBridge, Ponderosa Ventures and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures.
With volatile supply chains and growing climate risks currently reshaping the global food industry, which at their most severe threaten the affordability and availability of food, retailers are looking to get their houses in order and build more visibility through their supply chains.
Mondra’s digital twin technology helps map complex, previously untraceable supply chains, which it said provides “a foundational framework for managing product-level performance from farm to fork”. Information from Mondra’s live tracking of supply chains can be integrated into the systems and tools used by major retailers, food companies, and their suppliers to help them make more informed and environmentally-sound business decisions.
Endolys to build plastic film recycling plant in UK
Chemical recycling company Endolys has said it will build what it is calling the UK’s first large-scale facility for recycling plastic film, in Darlington.
Situated on the former Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company works in the north-east town, the project will help tackle a major recycling challenge.
The Endolys plant will be built in two phases. The first phase, for which £60 million has already been secured, will see six units process 60,000 tonnes of shredded plastic film waste into 40,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil each year.
The second phase, costing a similar amount, would see a further 60,000 tonnes of film waste processed into a further 40,000 tonnes of oil. All of the film waste will be sourced from municipal waste facilities. Subject to planning and environmental approvals, phase one operations are expected to begin at the end of 2026.
[image credit: Hived]
