"Don't transport, don't incinerate, recycle waste" JOYCLE raises approximately 150 million yen in pre-Series A funding

JOYCLE Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yutaro Koyanagi; hereinafter "JOYCLE"), which is building a small-scale, decentralized resource circulation infrastructure, has raised approximately 150 million yen in its pre-Series A funding round. ANOBAKA Inc. served as the lead investor, with additional investment from Toyota Invention Partners Inc., The Hokuliku Bank, Ltd., Suyyo & Co., Ltd., NCB Venture Capital Co., Ltd., Saison Ventures Co., Ltd., and LiveDoor Corporation, through a third-party allotment of shares. The total amount raised, including loans, now stands at approximately 350 million yen.

With this funding, JOYCLE will establish mass production systems for its next-generation waste recycling device, "JOYCLE BOX," enhance research and development, and strengthen its organizational structure. This will enable the company to address challenges in the waste treatment supply chain, such as the reduction of incinerators and driver shortages faced by local governments and companies nationwide, and further promote the social implementation of a circular economy.

What is the decentralized upcycling plant "JOYCLE BOX"?

The design of "JOYCLE BOX" is an image.

JOYCLE is a startup that develops and provides "JOYCLE BOX," a next-generation decentralized infrastructure that "does not transport, does not incinerate, and recycles waste," solving global waste resource supply chain problems. "JOYCLE BOX" is a small-scale, decentralized plant that uses electric heat to reduce waste volume by over 95% and convert it into inorganic resources, carbides, and other materials. It is towable and movable by vehicle and equipped with the IoT data visualization system "JOYCLE BOARD." By installing it at the waste generation source, it eliminates the need for long-distance transportation to incineration facilities, simultaneously solving the triple challenges of reduced transportation costs, driver shortages, and improved resource recovery rates.

It also functions as "disaster-resilient off-grid infrastructure" independent of power and communication grids, through auxiliary power from solar panels and integration with satellite communication (Starlink Business). In normal times, it reduces waste treatment costs, and in times of disaster, it resolves the issue of disaster waste that cannot be transported on-site, serving as next-generation resource circulation infrastructure.

【Seeking "JOYCLE BOX" Co-creation Partners】

On June 5th, we announced the start of advance sales for a limited 10 units of the small-scale upcycling plant "JOYCLE BOX."

We are recruiting companies, local governments, and research institutions considering advance purchase as "co-creation partners" to jointly promote the social implementation of decentralized infrastructure that can "recycle waste on-site without transport or incineration."

Inquiries here

We also encourage you to review the special report summarizing past demonstration experiment results and adoption achievements.

It can be downloaded from the URL below.

Download here

※ Please select the special report on the left side.

※Related press release: [World Environment Day] Launching Partner Recruitment Program - Advance Sales of Limited 10 Units to "Co-creation Partner" Companies

Background of Funding

The current waste treatment system relies on "transportation" to distant large-scale incineration facilities and "incineration," leading to serious issues such as high logistics costs, CO2 emissions, and the difficulty of maintaining collection and transportation due to labor shortages.

JOYCLE develops and provides "JOYCLE BOX," which processes and recycles waste on-site at its generation source. Through demonstration experiments with multiple local governments and companies, JOYCLE has accumulated achievements in solving region-specific challenges. These achievements, coupled with the data visualization technology of the IoT platform "JOYCLE BOARD" and the unique intellectual property in automatic control specialized for decentralized infrastructure, have been highly evaluated, leading to this funding round to prepare for mass production.

Use of Funds

The raised funds will be invested in the following key areas to accelerate business growth:

Mass production development and launch of rental services for "JOYCLE BOX" Establishment of mass production and stable supply systems for JOYCLE BOX with finalized specifications for each industry.

Research and development, including intellectual property acquisition Technological innovation to improve the automatic control performance and processing efficiency of JOYCLE BOX, and its ability to recycle diverse waste, as well as strengthening patent strategy.

Personnel expansion ▶ Recruitment site here Expansion of organizational foundation through enhanced recruitment, focusing on engineers, sales, and customer success.

Regarding Additional Funding

Following this round, we continue to accept additional investment from investors and business partners who resonate with our philosophy.

We welcome inquiries from those interested in co-creating businesses for regional revitalization, social implementation of resource circulation, and global expansion.

https://joycle.net/#contact

Comments from Investors (in no particular order)

Mr. Hiroki Oda, Capitalist, ANOBAKA Inc.

▶ Investor Interview here

We are grateful for the opportunity to lead the investment in this pre-Series A round, following our investment in the previous seed round! In the approximately 1.5 years since the seed round investment, the manufacturing and sales of the next-generation waste recycling device "JOYCLE BOX" have steadily progressed, and the business has grown to be highly anticipated by many stakeholders. We will continue to fully support the rapidly advancing Team JOYCLE!

Mr. Kota Aoki, Associate, NCB Venture Capital Co., Ltd.

▶ Investor Interview here

JOYCLE's decentralized upcycling technology, which "does not transport, does not incinerate, and recycles waste," is an innovative model that solves the serious regional challenge of rising waste treatment costs due to population decline. With a strong affinity for Kyushu, which has many remote islands and regional cities, we will leverage the resources of the Nishi-Nippon FH Group to tackle regional issues together.

Mr. Ryuji Ishida, Chief Researcher, The Hokuliku Bank, Ltd.

▶ Investor Interview here

As a regional financial institution, we deeply resonate with JOYCLE's challenge of converting waste into valuable resources, creating new industries and employment. We are confident that it will greatly contribute to solving the waste treatment issues that are becoming apparent in the vast region of Hokkaido as next-generation venous infrastructure. We will support collaboration with Hokkaido's local governments and businesses to build a regionally-based resource circulation model.

Mr. Hiroki Sano, Director, Suyyo & Co., Ltd.

▶ Investor Interview here

JOYCLE's decentralized resource circulation infrastructure has the potential to greatly contribute to solving social issues in the waste treatment field. We are optimistic about its technological capabilities and the steady accumulation of demonstration results, and we intend to actively pursue business collaboration as well as support the company's growth.

Ms. Kanata Takai, Saison Ventures Co., Ltd.

We are convinced that JOYCLE's challenge will fundamentally transform the way waste is treated and accelerate the realization of a circular economy.

Saison Ventures will fully support their efforts to implement new options of decentralized infrastructure in society and pave the way for a sustainable future!

Mr. Genichi Suwa, Investment Manager, Toyota Invention Partners Inc.

JOYCLE's decentralized resource circulation infrastructure not only solves regional waste problems but also has the potential to contribute to carbon neutrality efforts in the future by improving the efficiency of waste treatment at factories and other business sites and through upcycling. We expect the company's growth to accelerate further and lead to the expansion of an ecosystem that supports sustainable resource circulation.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Nakamura, Deputy General Manager, New Business Division, LiveDoor Corporation

My decision to invest originated from meeting Mr. Koyanagi two years ago and strongly resonating with the vision he presented. It was not just the business potential, but his passion to "create this kind of future together" that moved us. The affinity between our business and the field JOYCLE is tackling is high, and we believe that combining our perspectives and knowledge will create significant value. We look forward to continuing to grow together as supporters and business partners.

Comment from Yutaro Koyanagi, President and CEO

We are greatly encouraged and honored to welcome strong partners through this funding round who will support the transformation of domestic and international infrastructure in the future.

We are confident in the synergies across diverse fields such as mobility, regional economy, energy, finance, and healthcare with the investors who have joined us.

Furthermore, we are convinced that we are the only company globally that has been able to involve such a diverse and powerful group of stakeholders in this field and phase. With renewed determination and excitement, our entire team will dedicate ourselves to developing new infrastructure, aiming to exceed everyone's expectations.

By deepening collaboration with each company, we will accelerate the construction of locally rooted resource circulation models and the update of global social infrastructure.

JOYCLE, with its mission to "create a society where resources and joy circulate," is determined to achieve this challenge together with our stakeholders who place their trust in us.

Future Outlook

With this funding, we will fully establish the mass production system for JOYCLE BOX and further expand collaborations with local governments and companies. We will continue to carefully conduct demonstrations and implementations tailored to the challenges of each region, and gradually realize the social implementation of decentralized infrastructure that "does not transport, does not incinerate, and recycles waste."

About JOYCLE Inc.

JOYCLE aims to realize a society where "resources and joy (JOY) circulate (CYCLE)" by implementing next-generation decentralized infrastructure that fuses communication infrastructure, renewable energy, and resource circulation. Through its infrastructure model centered on JOYCLE BOX, the company promotes a new on-site circular economy and a sustainable society where "resources and joy circulate," free from the constraints of decreasing incinerators, driver shortages, and rising costs.

Representative: Yutaro Koyanagi

Tokyo Headquarters: Sumitomo Fudosan Toranomon Tower 5F, ANOBASHO, 2-2-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 Nagoya Headquarters: STATION Ai, 1-2-32 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-0064 Okinawa Headquarters: 401, 2-17-27 Makishi, Naha, Okinawa 900-0013

Business Activities: Consulting and data platform services specializing in small-scale upcycling plants

URL: https://joycle.net/