Swedish waste management startup Bintel has raised €760k in a round led by Almi Invest, along with private investors Erik Urnes and Philip Abdon. The funding will be used to strengthen marketing and sales, with an inital focus on the Nordics.
Bintel develops sensor based systems and cloud services, enabling on-demand waste collection, with which waste bins are monitored, and connected to smart city networks. Through Bintel’s servies, waste collection is done dynamically when needed, and not on a predetermined schedule, yielding economic and environmental benefits, since fewer collections and waste trucks are required.
Bintel aims to address waste collection from detached houses and apartments, with waste bins equipped with a device that allows end-users to decide when their waste is to be collected. The information is sent to Bintel’s server, which creates the collection route. Bintel has launched a pilot project with the municipality of Helsingborg, which has resulted in a reduced need of waste collection, and increased customer satisfaction.
“The timing of Bintel’s system is completly right; it fits well with the near future of connected cities,” said Ann-Sofie Hörlin, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. “It is a great way to help companies and municipalities to decrease their environmental foot print. Bintel is an early adopter of new technology, in a technologal shift. We believe they have great potential to be successful.”
Bintel has several customers in the Swedish market, and the successful pilot together with the municipality of Helsingborg has resulted in a large interest from all over the Nordics. The company is now focusing on the market segment waste units at municipalities.
“We are very pleased with having Almi Invest as a new investor,” said Tom Johansen CEO Bintel. “Strengthened by their capital and competence, we will be able to take the next step in the development of our company.”
