New Delhi based old electronics buyback startup Karma Recycling, today announced that it has rised a round of funding from IIMA CIIE’s Infuse Ventures. The exact funding amount is not disclosed by either party.
Infuse Ventures is an early-stage investment firm associated with IIM Ahmedabad’s tech incubator CIIE (Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship) and Low Carbon Enterprise Fund (LCEF).
According the Karma, The raised funds will be utilized to develop & enhance technology for exchange and to expand its consumer and retailer facing operations across the country.
“With brand new mobile devices sales exploding nearly 200% over the past three years, the development of technologies and services for buyback and exchange related services solves a big, urgent and valuable problem for consumers, retailers and manufacturers of consumer electronics”, said Aamir Jariwala, Co-founder and CEO, Karma Recycling
“The aim is to extend the life of a mobile device as much as possible, and when it cannot be extended any further, to recycle it responsibly”, said Akshat Ghiya, Co-founder, Karma Recycling.
“We have re-distributed thousands of devices, mostly acquired from metros to smaller Indian towns and villages, empowering many who could not afford brand new devices and allowing them to enter the mobile economy,” he added.
Founded by Akshat Ghiya and Aamir Jariwala, and started its operations in April 2013, Karma Recycling collects e-waste from corporates and households which are then repaired and refurbished. The refurbished devices are then resold in the second-hand market.