Circulate Capital closes LAC fund at over US$75.8M

Circulate Capital has announced the final close of its fund to combat plastic pollution throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at US$75.8M. This brings the investment management firm’s total AUM to around US$265M. Additionally, the company has welcomed new partners to the LAC fund, including iAlumbra, Heading for Change, Sea Forward, and the LATAM Impact Fund.

“Today’s plastic problem is tomorrow’s profit opportunity – if you know where to look. We’re looking at Latin America,” said Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Circulate Capital. “In a shifting macroeconomic landscape, Latin America’s high-growth markets are increasingly attractive for institutional and corporate investors alike.”  

Kaplan continued, “Our portfolio companies are tackling three challenges at once: waste reduction, job creation, and cleaner communities across Latin America. From waste to wealth, from pollution to profit – that’s the circular economy opportunity we’re scaling across Latin America.”

About the LAC fund’s new partners:

• iAlumbra: Deploys capital across the full spectrum, catalysing models for economic growth that can help restore the environment, honour the community, and advance health and prosperity.
• The LATAM Impact fund: Co-managed by Sonen Capital and Fondo de Fondos, the Fund invests in scalable businesses that enhance livelihoods and build climate resilience.
• Heading for Change: The company is an endowment that makes investments in nature, climate, and biodiversity solutions to advance gender equity.
• Sea Forward: Finally, Sea Forward is a global philanthropic platform focused on protecting the ocean and advancing the blue economy.

The new partners are building on the foundation laid by the investors who aided with the fund’s launch in May 2023. Said investors include Danone, Dow, Mondelēz International, Unilever, and Chevron Phillips Chemical, as well as mission-aligned partners like IDB Lab and Builders Vision. Combining corporate partnerships and impact-focused capital is integral to the fund’s strategy to scale best-in-class recycling and circular economy solutions across the region.

The challenges faced by Latin America and the Caribbean

The region has a pressing plastics waste crisis, an issue that’s exacerbated due to the area’s extensive coastline, growing urbanisation, and limited waste infrastructure. These issues are contributing to the increasing plastic leakage into the environment. Around 3.7 million metric tons of plastic waste have entered the ocean from LAC, a figure expected to rise to 4.4 million metric tons by 2050.     

The global demand for high-quality, recycled plastics is growing, a trend driven by ambitious corporate sustainability targets and regulatory pressures. However, the region’s recycling value chain remains underdeveloped and underfunded, hindering environmental progress and limiting economic potential. Circulate Capital’s LAC fund was founded to bridge this gap.    

Building momentum in the LAC

So far, the fund has made four investments across Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, with more coming in the future. These current investments include:

• Ambiental de Plasticos Recyclapet S.A.S. (Colombia): A recycler producing high-quality rPET for the Andean and Caribbean markets.    
• Cirklo (Brazil): One of the country’s largest independent PET recyclers, supporting the development of the circular economy.    
• Omnigreen SAPI de CV(Mexico): A pioneer in flexible plastic recycling.
• Polyrec (Colombia): a flexible plastics recycling company.