eRecyclingCorps, whose mission is to alleviate the pain of wireless e-waste, has landed $35 million in financing in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Co-founded by David Edmondson, the former CEO of RadioShack, and Ron LeMay, former CEO of Sprint PCS, eRecyclingCorps works with retailers and carriers like Sprint and Verizon to turn e-waste into an asset.
The company, which was founded in 2009, helps carriers and distributors run incentivized wireless device trade-in and recycling programs, powered by an instant in-store credit solution and a Web-based platform that integrates into the point-of-sale systems at retail stores.
This helps carriers, in their words, “overcome logistics and execution barriers to entry” when it comes to setting up and managing recycling processes.
The pitch, straight from the company’s website:
Our approach is simple: recognize the value of these devices, offer incentives in exchange/trade, and establish a global after-market to support the reuse of wireless phones. eRecyclingCorps is pioneering the establishment of large-scale wireless phone buy-back programs in a way that is highly scalable yet also recognizes the unique needs of companies and their customers.
eRecyclingCorps believes that by transforming the wireless device ecosystem into an opportunity for reward, renewal and reuse, we’re not only benefiting the environment, but creating an economic opportunity that rewards everyone who participates.
According to the company, more than 130 million mobile devices are ‘retired’ each year in the United States alone, but only 10 percent gets recycled.
Over 130 million cell phones are replaced every year in the United States, yet only 10 percent of those are recycled. As consumers upgrade, these wireless devices are tossed into a desk drawer or closet where a valuable piece of electronics and engineering waste away. Based on EPA estimates, over a billion replaced wireless phones have accumulated in households across the US and will likely end up in landfills rather than being reused or recycled. We started eRecyclingCorps to aggressively...
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) is a well known Silicon Valley venture capital firm, due in large part to their past success. They were early investors in many significant companies, including Amazon, AOL, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Google, Intuit, Macromedia, Netscape, Segway, and Sun Microsystems. The name of the firm comes from the four founding partners: Eugene Kleiner, Tom Perkins, Frank J. Caufield, and Brook Byers. In March 2008, KPCB announced the iFund, a $100M investment initiative focused on ideas...
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