SuperCircle

About SuperCircle

SuperCircle is a technology and logistics company that provides end-to-end solutions for post-consumer textile recycling. Founded by Chloe Songer and Stuart Ahlum, the company launched in 2022 to address the significant environmental challenge of textile waste. The founders' journey began with their recyclable sneaker brand, Thousand Fell, launched in 2019, which served as a proof-of-concept for a scalable, circular model. Songer's background includes roles at Vogue and Gap Inc., while Ahlum has entrepreneurial experience in footwear start-ups and supply chain management in Asia. Their combined experience revealed a critical gap in the infrastructure needed to connect retail brands with the recycling industry.

SuperCircle operates a platform that facilitates brand-owned take-back programs, allowing consumers to send in used apparel, footwear, and textiles from partner brands in exchange for store credit. The company's business model is built on providing the technology, reverse logistics, and processing infrastructure for these programs. It serves fashion brands and retailers by managing the entire lifecycle of returned goods, from consumer collection to sorting, processing, and finally, recycling. Key services include turnkey trade-in programs, excess inventory solutions, and data reporting that offers transparency on environmental impact. The company works with over 50 brand partners, including J.Crew, Reformation, and Parachute.

Upon receiving items at its facilities, SuperCircle sorts them by material type. The platform's technology plays a crucial role by using order history data to identify the material composition of garments, which streamlines the sorting process. After sorting, materials are sent to one of approximately 30 recycling partners to be broken down into fibers for upcycling or downcycling into new products. Since its launch, SuperCircle has diverted over two million garments from landfills. The company secured $7 million in a Pre-Series A funding round in late 2023, co-led by Radicle Impact and Ulu Ventures, to expand its infrastructure and partnerships.