With its reusable shipping system, Hey Circle aims to make e-commerce more sustainable. For this vision, the startup has now secured impact investor Capacura as lead investor for its seed funding round. Gateway Ventures, CK Venture, Super Angels, Brangs + Heinrich, and additional business angels have also participated. The €1.5 million raised will be used to strengthen the startup’s sales and IT teams, expand production capacity, and extend the product portfolio.
Ingo Dahm, CEO of Capacura GmbH, emphasizes:
“We promise our partners that they can invest in the best startups with us and make the world a little better in the process. That’s why Hey Circle, with its system of reusable packaging and well-thought-out IT solution, is a perfect addition to our portfolio.”
Katja Ruhnke, CEO of CK Venture Capital GmbH, says:
“Hey Circle has the golden triangle of an innovative, future-proof idea, a great leadership team, and a promising implementation. Hey Circle is an enrichment for everyone who wants to combine sustainability and logistics.”
Just last week, the Munich-based startup announced that it has strengthened its leadership team with Rebecca Steinke as COO. Steinke comes from e-commerce giant Amazon, where she spent five years in multiple management roles in the logistics sector. She now works alongside Doris Diebold (CEO) and Morris Kurz (CTO).
Diebold, founder and CEO, comments on the investment:
“We are pleased to have investors on our side who support us not only financially but also with diverse technical expertise and share our vision for sustainable mail-order commerce.”
By 2028, Hey Circle wants to replace 80 million single-use packages with more environmentally friendly shipping packages. According to the company, one Hey Circle box can save up to 94 percent of waste and three-quarters of CO2 emissions compared to single-use cardboard. 30 companies such as Drykorn and Austrian Post are already among the startup’s customers. Additionally, the company is running test projects with Trigema, among others.
