Impact investor Circulate Capital has raised $220 million at the first close of its Circulate Capital Asia II fund, which aims to finance nearly 2 million metric tons of collection and recycling capacity focused on plastics, it said in a news release.
The first close surpasses the $188 million raised for Circulate Capital's first Asia fund, despite softer global fundraising conditions. The fund will deploy growth capital into circular economy supply chains and recycling businesses across South and Southeast Asia, with a focus on plastics and packaging, as well as electronics and apparel.
Returning corporate investors include The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, Dow and Procter & Gamble, alongside development finance institutions British International Investment, Proparco and the International Finance Corp., as well as Builders Vision, a family office.
New investors include the Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund, co-managed by Allianz Global Investors and the European Investment Bank; a Dutch pension fund via Achmea Investment Management's Impact Platform; and public institutions such as Impact Fund Denmark; Swiss development finance institution SIFEM, managed by responsAbility Investments AG; and Australian Development Investments.
Family offices and impact investors participating in the fundraising include Stella, Clotho Family Office, Wire Group and Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco.
Fund II will target investments in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Key themes include scaling mature recycling streams such as PET, developing recycling capacity for polyolefins, advancing paper-based packaging alternatives, and recovering critical and rare earth materials from electronic waste and batteries.
Circulate Capital said Fund II aims to finance nearly 2 million metric tons of collection and recycling capacity. Over a 10-year period, the firm expects investments to prevent 30 million mt of unmanaged waste and reduce or avoid more than 50 million mt of CO2 emissions, while targeting gender-smart investing alignment across at least 50% of the portfolio by exit.
Since 2020, Circulate Capital has added nearly 900,000 mt of annual collection and recycling capacity across its Asia portfolio. The firm recently completed a full exit from India-based digital waste management platform Recykal and partial exits from Lucro and Srichakra Polyplast.
"Circulate Capital is the first and only private markets manager to bet exclusively on circular supply chains across South and Southeast Asia. Our track record of successful exits demonstrates that the circular economy is no longer just a subset of ESG or sustainability," said Rob Kaplan, founder and chief executive officer of Circulate Capital.
"It is a sophisticated asset class that can deliver liquidity to private equity investors. With Fund II, we are ready to scale and capture the massive growth potential inherent in these high-velocity economies, to build businesses that deliver financial and impact returns for our investors," he added.
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--Reporting by Xin Nee Chua, xchua@opisnet.com ; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 09, 2026 00:54 ET (04:54 GMT)
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