{"id":32961,"date":"2023-11-27T12:51:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T12:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/startups\/hey-circle\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T22:34:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T22:34:53","slug":"heycircle","status":"publish","type":"startups","link":"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/en\/startups\/heycircle\/","title":{"rendered":"hey circle"},"author":17,"featured_media":32960,"template":"","meta":[],"startup_status":[36,61],"investment_focus":[],"class_list":["post-32961","startups","type-startups","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","startup_status-funded-en","startup_status-internonly-en"],"acf":{"logo":32948,"show_stage":["Yes"],"stage":"Seed","show_niche":["Yes"],"niche":"Sustainability","closing_month_year":"February 2024","female_founder":["Yes"],"location":"Munich, DE","website":"https:\/\/www.heycircle.de\/","demo_video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_f3wAA8DZfY","meet-up_lp_link":"","calendly_code":"https:\/\/calendly.com\/gatewayventures\/heycircle-gateway-ventures-meetup","calendly_code_Kopie":"","oneline_description":"Revolutionizing eCommerce shipments: Go Green with Hey Circle\u2019s Reusable Packaging","description":"","problem":"eCommerce has a <strong>waste problem<\/strong>. Billions of tons of waste and CO2 are generated annually by shipping packaging that is only sent once. <strong>Online retailers are looking for sustainable alternatives<\/strong> that their customers demand, require their own sustainability goals, and are enshrined in law. For example, with the <strong>Packaging Act<\/strong>, the EU is planning a <strong>10% reusable quota<\/strong> for shipping packaging <strong>from 2030.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<!-- notionvc: 78262509-9c16-4ad8-b44d-5c83397a081b -->","solution":"Customers of hey circle can use their reusable packaging to <strong>cut their waste by 94% and their CO2 emissions by 76%<\/strong>. The patented boxes are <strong>optimized for shipping and warehousing<\/strong> - trackable, lightweight, robust, foldable, dirt and water resistant, theft proof, brandable, and available in 8 sizes.\r\n\r\nIn connection, hey circle offeres an IT solution being able to map the entire customer journey. Return of boxes is ensured via a <strong>unique after-sales deposit model<\/strong> managed by hey circle.\r\n\r\n<!-- notionvc: be086058-b015-493f-876f-dcdd659978ff -->","market":"The market potential is huge: in 2027, approx. 28 million shipments will be made in the EU. Of these, about 13 million shipments are relevant for reusable packaging. The EU Commission ensures rapid growth through legal regulation, which is already being driven by customer expectations today.\r\n\r\n<!-- notionvc: a2e18c48-20a7-4eda-b1d0-9ae9247f6db1 -->","usp":"<strong>Almost every product<\/strong>, even fragile, large or heavy goods, can be transported using hey circles boxes. This is unlike other solutions which often focus on a special type of product such as clothing\/apparel.\r\n\r\nThe tech solution via cloud is predestined <strong>as the base for an industry solution<\/strong> and protects against competition from the packaging sector.\r\n\r\n<!-- notionvc: 99e589e2-0458-4427-aeaa-eea6b8fedaf1 -->","business_model":"hey circle rents out or sells the packaging and licenses the IT solution.\r\n\r\nAnother revenue stream is the deposit model. Due to the multiple shipments, hey circle can offer the packaging at per shipment <strong>prices comparable to disposable cartons<\/strong> while generating <strong>a margin of &gt;120%.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<!-- notionvc: 72ebed40-5440-420a-80d1-b48521a66cdc -->","traction":"<ul>\r\n \t<li>Until now EUR 50.000 in revenue.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>37 customers, additional 9 testing<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Acquired large customers like Trigema, Tchibo, Austrian Post, DRYKORN, VIU<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cooperation with large parcel service providers (like DHL, DPD) and logistics suppliers (Arvato, Rhenus) who are recommending hey circle (zB Trigema &gt; DPD)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Generated LOIs for EUR &gt;1.5 million in Revenue in the coming year<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Weighted Sales Pipeline of EUR &gt;4 Mio in Revenue<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<!-- notionvc: b09df3f7-6e25-4991-8ce6-b40f8056bcdc -->","exit_potential":"","nrofcoinvestors":3,"tm_1_name":"Doris Diebold","tm_2_name":"Morris Kurz","tm_3_name":"Rebecca Steinke","tm_4_name":"","tm_1_position":"Co-Founder & CEO","tm_2_position":"Co-Founder & CTO","tm_3_position":"Co-Founder & COO","tm_4_position":"","image_-_team_member_1":32953,"image_-_team_member_2":32955,"image_-_team_member_3":32975,"image_-_team_member_4":null,"deal_link":"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/d\/de\/investment-opportunities\/heycircle","founder_group_image":32957,"why_we_invested_in_this_startup":"","dealcaptain_opinion":"<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Regulation<\/strong>: According to an EU regulation, 10% of all parcel shipments must be reusable by 2030.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Market trend<\/strong>: More and more companies want (and need) to make their shipping environmentally friendly and are looking into reusable packaging solutions.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>IP<\/strong>: Patented solution for folding the boxes; software for handling returns with API interfaces.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<!-- notionvc: e701dd65-47c0-42d3-b5b8-550cd91fe8b4 -->","stoop":"No","pb":"No","investment_terms":"<ul>\r\n \t<li>Gateway Ventures: Equity capital up to EUR 500,000<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Pre-money valuation: EUR 5.7 million<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Closing: February 2024<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Total round: up to EUR 1.5 million<\/li>\r\n \t<li>min. Ticket \/ Investor: EUR 10,000<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<!-- notionvc: 8c561ed8-96c5-42a9-ad6d-743bce2792c1 -->","traction_image":null,"hide_socials":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>hey circle - Gateway Ventures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/en\/startups\/heycircle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"hey circle - Gateway Ventures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/en\/startups\/heycircle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gateway Ventures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T22:34:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/heycircle-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/en\/startups\/heycircle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gateway.ventures\/en\/startups\/heycircle\/\",\"name\":\"hey circle - 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