2023 has been an exceptional year for ScrapAd. We have achieved a lot in 12 months. There are more of us at ScrapAd. More companies trust ScrapAd. The countries they come from are more. The collaborators who contribute their grain of sand so that we can continue to move forward are more and more. It has been a year of learning, of standing up and taking off to achieve our main objective: to create a platform to give a second life to all waste.
JANUARY
We started the year with enthusiasm and excitement, and we needed to transmit that to more people. Therefore, new members joined the ScrapAd multidisciplinary team, in order to continue growing and offering a usable and safe platform to our customers.
FEBRUARY
El Referente and ICEX include us in the Map of the Cleantech Ecosystem in Spain. The fact that we are recognised as an innovative proposal that helps the industry to move towards the circular economy motivates us to move forward.
MARCH
We are 3 years old! In March 2023 ScrapAd celebrated 3 years since its creation. There was a lot to be thankful for, but, above all, we thanked all our team for making this project a reality, those of you who trusted in the project already at that time and all of you who already knew that things can be done differently.
In addition, we became a member of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the only global federation of the recycling industry representing more than 30,000 companies worldwide. BIR members are world leaders in the supply of raw materials and recyclables, and we get to be one more!
APRIL
In April our CEO, Samuel Ruiz de Lorenzo participated in the event “The Circular Economy in Industry 4.0”, where he spoke about the latest developments and how innovation is driving the circular economy. We also managed to be one of the beneficiary companies of the NEOTEC programme, which promotes innovation and technological development in Spanish companies.
MAY
In May, El Referente selected us as one of the 15 Spanish startups driving the circular economy.
But, most importantly, we launched our new version of the platform. A much more usable and user-friendly platform, with a mobile version, a new Transactions section, improved notifications and an improved internal search engine, among many other improvements.
We also attended the BIR’s 75th Anniversary Convention in Amsterdam as visitors.
JUNE
In June we were present as exhibitors at the 20th Congress of Recovery and Recycling of the FER (Spanish Federation of Recovery and Recycling), where we were also sponsors, with our logo appearing on the wristband of all participants and exhibitors. Thank you!
Likewise, our COO and founder, Sandra Montes Pérez, was interviewed by GT Global Talent, for being an example of a successful woman and manager in industrial and digital environments.
JULY
In July, the whole ScrapAd team enjoyed a day of Team Building where we laughed, jumped, ate and, above all, team-building. We had a great time!
AUGUST
In August we passed the threshold of 2,000 companies registered on ScrapAd! We were beginning to realise that more and more of them were trusting us to buy and sell their recyclable materials.
SEPTEMBER
Sandra Montes, our founder, attended FOMO (Futures Of Marketplaces Open) in Warsaw, where more than 200 marketplace founders, executives and investors gathered for an important day on the future of the industry.
At the same time, our IT team added new features to the platform: the incorporation of ISRI specifications and LER codes in the listings and the inclusion of the market price of the materials.
Also in September, our CEO Samuel Ruiz de Lorenzo contributed his experience at the University of Deusto, giving a course on finance in entrepreneurship.
Finally, we were certified by Enisa as an emerging, innovative and technological company in Spain, and we were also one of the SMEs of the year in Gipuzkoa! Santander Bank and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce named us as the best company of the year in Gipuzkoa related to recycling and sustainability.
OCTOBER
Our financial director, Deyvid Gavazov represented us yesterday in phase 2 of the BIND 4.0 Open Innovation and Acceleration Programme, which connects dynamic teams of startups with consolidated companies to provide solutions to their digital transformation challenges. It also participated in the conference held by the Gipuzkoa Chamber of Commerce on Digital Technologies implemented in e-commerce, presenting the case of ScrapAd as a disruptive business model in a traditional sector driven by ICT.
elDiario.es together with BBVA interviewed our CEO, where he was able to tell us what ScrapAd is, how it works and what solutions we bring to the recycling sector.
Also in October we had the opportunity to host an AdegiTOP (organised by ADEGI) in our offices, where we talked about how we have adopted the concept of circular economy as our source of competitiveness.
Finally, we were at the BIR Convention in Abu Dhabi as visitors.
NOVEMBER
In November we gave one of the news that have marked this 2023 in ScrapAd. In this month we published that we had closed a financing round worth 5 million euros, thanks to our partners Bergé y CIA and INDI Partners, who trusted us and our project.
DECEMBER
We closed the year with the best figures so far. We managed to have more than 2,500 companies registered on our platform, in addition to coming from more than 120 different countries. This digital recycling community is growing year by year and getting better and better, and we are already preparing for what 2024 will bring!
It’s certainly been a great year for ScrapAd, with many achievements and challenges along the way. We look forward to seeing what the future holds and to continuing to lead change in the recycling industry through our innovative digital platform. Thank you for being there for another year!