Circular Economy: Companies, Investors & News

Clean, effective personal care for every body and every budget.

Handcrafted sustainable fashion celebrating traditional artisanal techniques and timeless elegance.

Fair trade skin, hair, and body care powered by women-led cooperatives in West Africa.

Plastic-free personal care tools designed to last a lifetime.

Making ice cream better for you and the planet.

AI-powered waste sorting solutions to automate recovery and reduce labor.

Ashoka is one of the world’s leading organizations supporting social entrepreneurs. Founded in 1980, Ashoka pioneered the concept of social entrepreneurship and has built a global network of changemakers working to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Through its flagship Ashoka Fellows program, the organization identifies and supports high-impact entrepreneurs with funding, mentorship, and a powerful global network. Ashoka’s broader mission is to create a world where everyone is a changemaker, embedding social innovation across education, business, and civil society.

Better Ventures is an early-stage impact venture capital firm investing in founders building solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The firm backs companies across climate, health, circular economy, PropTech, and sustainable consumer sectors, with a focus on scalable technologies that deliver measurable impact. Operating with an “impact + return” philosophy, Better Ventures supports entrepreneurs not just with capital, but with access to a curated network of operators, angels, and advisors. The firm positions founders as the drivers of change, helping them scale companies that generate both financial returns and meaningful environmental and social outcomes.

Beyond Impact is an impact investment firm focused on accelerating the transition to a more sustainable, animal-free economy. Founded in 2017, the firm backs companies developing alternatives to animal-based products across food, materials, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. The firm’s mission centers on building a “kinder, cleaner, healthier world” by investing in scalable businesses that reduce environmental damage, eliminate animal suffering, and improve human health. Its portfolio targets high-growth sectors such as plant-based foods, alternative proteins, and next-generation biomaterials.

Circular Valley is a Germany-based innovation ecosystem and startup accelerator dedicated to accelerating the global transition to a circular economy. Often described as the "Silicon Valley of the Circular Economy," the organization brings together startups, corporations, research institutions, governments, and investors to commercialize circular innovations across manufacturing, materials, construction, energy, mobility, textiles, packaging, food systems, and industrial technologies. Through its Circular Economy Accelerator, Circular Valley provides mentorship, corporate partnerships, pilot opportunities, investor access, and a global network to help early-stage companies scale technologies that reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and enable circular value chains. Since launching its accelerator, the organization has supported 178 startups from 45 countries that have collectively raised more than €350 million in follow-on funding.

Circulate Capital is a leading impact investment firm dedicated to accelerating the circular economy in high-growth markets. The firm invests in companies building resilient circular supply chains, with an initial focus on plastics and expanding into broader circular economy solutions. By partnering with multinational corporations, institutional investors, development finance institutions, and entrepreneurs, Circulate Capital finances businesses that reduce waste, increase recycling infrastructure, improve resource efficiency, and generate measurable environmental and social outcomes alongside competitive financial returns.

Climentum Capital is a European venture capital firm investing in early-stage climate hard tech companies driving the sustainable reindustrialization of Europe. The firm backs B2B technologies addressing emissions and resource constraints across energy, industry, infrastructure, and supply chains. Climentum focuses on companies moving from early commercialization toward industrial scale, providing capital and operational support for hardware, deep tech, and first-of-a-kind deployments. Its portfolio spans seven European countries and includes companies working across industrial decarbonization, energy systems, resilient supply chains, and climate infrastructure.