Local cleantech company Friendlier recently closed a $4.5 million funding round to support their national expansion plan and make it easier for Canadians to choose reuseable plastics.
Launched in 2019 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Kayli Smith and Jaqueline Hanton (both BASc '20, chemical engineering), Friendlier has kept nearly 3.7 million food and beverage containers out of landfills and currently operates at more than 200 locations across Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Quebec.
The latest funding round introduces Toronto-based impact investment firm Good & Well as a new partner, alongside continuing support from Friendlier’s existing investors, and will expand business operations across more of the country with investments in new technologies, infrastructure and logistics.
“Canada is one of the leaders in the circular economy space globally. People are looking at Canada to see what is being done,” Hanton says. “At Friendlier, we are pushing the needle, making reuse the norm.”
Friendlier was born out of a shared work term in Sweden that introduced Hanton and Smith to conscious consumerism — Hanton’s subsequent co-op in the densely populated Hong Kong underscored the urgency of reducing people's impact on the planet. The two founders credit their Waterloo training with equipping them to solve real-world problems.
“We learned how to be effective problem solvers and think on our feet,” Hanton explained. “Through our chemical engineering training we gained expertise in scaling up our technology.”
Friendlier has raised a total of $10 million since 2019.
Go to Building a business that attracts funders and protects the planet for the full story.