Direct Capital backs Australian waste platform Jerrara from its $525M fund
What's the deal? Direct CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has invested in Jerrara EnvironmentalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Australian business-to-business waste treatment and processing platform, alongside MADAUS Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The deal completed in June 2026 and was announced in September.
What does Jerrara do? It operates in specialised waste treatment and recycling niches, recovering, treating and recycling waste rather than collecting it or sending it to landfill. Its initial focus is hazardous and non-hazardous liquid waste, processed at a licensed facility in Sydney.
What's the endgame? The strategy is to build a scaled platform across Australia and New Zealand. Managing director Chris Berkefeld, former chief executive officer of CleanawayDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — Australia's largest waste business — leads a senior team drawn from Cleanaway, BramblesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SuezDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the Swire GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Why these partners? Berkefeld is well known to Direct Capital, having served as an independent director of Hiway GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for 12 years. MADAUS Capital Partners, led by Mark Baldassarre, previously backed Direct Capital's Marvel PackersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → investment.
The signal: This is the second investment from Direct Capital VII, the firm's latest fund, which raised $525 million in April 2025. The deal points to continued private capital interest in waste recovery and recycling infrastructure across the Australia-New Zealand market.
Read more: directcapital.co.nz
Image credit: USDAgov
