Waste in India has long been a crisis hidden in plain sight, overflowing landfills, burned plastics, and invisible workers toiling in the margins. For Vishnu Vardhaan and Divya Shetty, this was not just environmental degradation; it was systemic failure. They left their jobs in tech to walk through landfills, listen to kabadiwalas, and build Cercle X—India’s first full-stack circular economy platform.
From Tech Jobs to Trash Mountains
Vishnu, a former engineer at Akamai, and Divya, once a developer at Mindtree, began Cercle as a storytelling platform to highlight India’s environmental blind spots. But soon, storytelling turned into system-building.
Frustrated by greenwashing and exploitative practices, they launched Cercle X to bring traceability, transparency, and technology into India’s chaotic waste ecosystem. Their mission: Make waste management profitable, transparent, and climate-positive.
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Why ‘Cercle X’?
The name signifies infinite circularity—Cercle for the loop, and X for the missing tech link. Headquartered in Coimbatore, Cercle X bridges the gap between brands, governments, and recyclers with a unified platform that tracks, manages, and monetises waste in real time.
Not Just SaaS—Full-Stack Sustainability
Cercle X is more than a platform. It’s an integrated model that spans digital dashboards and physical recycling. Their offerings include:
- EPR Compliance: End-to-end digital tracking for Extended Producer Responsibility.
- Scrap Auctions (ScrapTrade): A B2B marketplace for industries to get better value for scrap.
- Integrated Waste Management (IWM): Helping municipalities run zero-waste programs.
- Recycling Operations: Their 12,000 MT capacity unit upcycles multi-layer plastic (MLP) into boards and furniture.
Their edge lies in being full-stack, owning both the software and the supply chain.
Business Model: Asset-Light, Impact-Heavy
Cercle X operates on a diverse set of revenue streams, including SaaS licensing through its ScrapTrade platform, commissions from waste and scrap sales, a per-ton compliance fee for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and the sale of recycled products. Their transparent pricing model and asset-light approach have enabled rapid scalability across India’s Rs 15 billion waste market without significant capital expenditure.
Growing Impact
The company has forged partnerships with over 200 brands—including major players like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Dr. Reddy’s, and Mars. It has successfully digitised EPR compliance for more than 200 brand owners and prevented over 100,000 metric tonnes of waste from ending up in landfills.
Cercle X’s initiatives have also led to increased income for more than 800 waste workers. Key milestones include generating over Rs 134 crore in revenues, achieving PAT and EBITDA positivity, signing MoUs with multiple state governments, and enrolling more than 4,000 traders on the ScrapTrade platform.
Recognition and Reach
Cercle X’s work has earned global acclaim. The startup has been recognised as a CNN Hero of the Environment, won the FICCI Cleantech Startup of the Year award, and was featured in PwC’s NetZero Future50 for the Middle East. They have also represented India at the prestigious COP27 and COP28 climate conferences and have been honoured by several Union Ministers, including those of Railways, IT, and Skill Development.
Challenges and Learnings
Scaling wasn’t without setbacks. The team initially expanded operations before the tech was fully ready, misjudged the resistance from large corporations, and diluted its focus by pursuing too many leads.
However, they recalibrated quickly, grounding themselves in hard-earned lessons. “Vision is important, but execution and the right people make it real,” says Vishnu. His advice to founders: “Don’t chase VC validation. Build something valuable. Solve meaningful problems. And stay in the game long enough to make a difference.”
The Road Ahead
With eyes on Rs 400+ crore ARR, an SME IPO, and international expansion into Southeast Asia and MENA, Cercle X is gearing up to be India’s top circular economy enabler. The goal? 500+ brand and city partnerships, with profitability at scale.
