Items of interest that are on the periphery or weren’t quite meaty enough to write a single post about (yet)…
Alright, let’s get this out of the way: “…and by the way, many people are saying it's the most beautiful phone ever made, maybe in history, it's got tremendous gold, real gold, not fake gold...” etc.
Market
Far more seriously, it was disappointing to read that the European Commission, in an almost unprecedented move, have at best put a hold on the legislative process for the Green Claims Directive1. This was a valuable piece of work designed to combat greenwashing and protect consumers from false or unsubstantiated environmental marketing. Having looked at avoided carbon credits in consumer electronics last year, some level of standardisation / taxonomy / framework that forced environmental claims to be based on science (and understanding) would continue to help consumer confidence and credibility in support of the sustainability proposition. However, it appears that a number of political parties and the state of Italy forced the cancellation of due process, leaving things in a bit of a legislative mess2.
I recognise it’s only a quarter’s worth of data, but CCS Insight announced that the global secondary market took a dip in 1Q20253. They put the 2% decline down to weak retail traffic and heavy promotions at the end of 2024 that pulled demand forward. CCS suggest this is a blip. I’m less certain about that but I’ve only got evidence for the UK market, which according to the CCS article declined 3% (fairing better than France’s 11% decline). As consumers extend the primary use phase for new devices, fewer secondary devices hit the market. So whilst the note suggested a demand constraint, it could be the early signs of supply moderation.
This one really is on the periphery for many of you but worth keeping any eye on. Captive insurance companies have played a large role in device insurance and have often been based offshore due to lighter regulatory and tax regimes. I’ve not looked at this in a while but I recall that whilst Malta’s headline tax rate was 35%, the effective tax rate came down to 5% for foreign owned entities. Whilst it’s unlikely that the UK Treasury are going to match that, it’s good to see that they are looking to update the current captive regime4. It’s likely the legislative process will be set out at the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech later this summer. I’ll report back again in due course.
The BDO Circular Economy Trends Report 20255 shows that whilst UK deal volumes plateaued at 183 transactions in 2024 (compared to 184 in 2023), disclosed investment surged 60% to £2.2bn with average deal sizes climbing from £10.7m to £17.5m, suggesting the sector is maturing rather than cooling. Technology, Media & Telecoms accounted for 35% of deals (with industrials leading at 47%). Notable TMT companies mentioned include Smart Containers (volumetric sensors for supply chain efficiency), HoloMem (cooling-free data storage), and IntoTech (electronics recycling), whilst generalist investors now dominate with 131 of 183 deals compared to specialist impact funds. The shift towards larger deals and mainstream capital suggests circular economy investments are increasingly viewed as commercially viable rather than purely impact-driven, though whether this consolidation trend continues or we see a return to volume growth remains to be seen, particularly as 58% of deals were still venture capital transactions indicating plenty of early-stage activity in the pipeline.
Companies
Google made the Android news6 with further details on the Android 16 Trade-In mode which they state “provides quicker access to key device details at the point of sale. This makes it faster to trade in a device, get a refund and upgrade.”7. The new features allow technicians to bypass the standard setup wizard and immediately access diagnostic tools through Android Debug Bridge (ADB) commands, enabling automated retrieval of device health data (battery, storage, IMEI) and cryptographic verification of device authenticity. The system provides a restricted evaluation environment for running diagnostics while automatically scheduling a factory reset on the next boot to ensure data protection compliance. It’s unclear whether repairers, refurbishers, and recyclers will benefit from the efficiency gains, given the continued need for human involvement in grading, unless of course you’re investing in training Apkudo or Futuredial kit. Alternatively, existing diagnostic providers like Blancco, Blackbelt360, and Piceasoft may be better positioned to capitalise on the new features.
Anyone remember Apple’s WWDC a few weeks back? Me either. To say the event fell flat is probably an understatement. Ben Wood at CCS Insight commented that the most exciting announcement was being able to use AirPods as a microphone for other devices when recording video8. This highlighted the lack of any other decent news and underscores the fact that we hit the smartphone technology ceiling some time ago. Product sales curves have all sorts of shapes over time and despite blips caused by things like arbitrary tariff introductions, I can’t help but think that Apple’s marketing team is going to have to work very hard to keep the sales curve going up.
SPB, the Le Havre based affinity insurer had a busy month launching three new products with MediaMarkt in Poland9. The product set included Screen Protection, Refurbished Phone Cover and Gamers Insurance. The latter was also launched in France with Auchan and in collaboration with with Oney Insurance10. Let’s hope their accidental damage modelling included rage quitting. The company additionally announced a new brand, Cirkl [sigh] Partners, at the end of the month focused on the repair, refurbishment and recycling of everyday objects. It’s unclear how the brand is going to operate, I suspect as an advisory arm, but I like their focus on repair proximity. Something we all need to get our heads around.
Likewize, making every tech problem painless, (I wish they’d tell the in-laws), also had a busy month securing deals with Dr Phone Fix in Canada11 and supporting Basatne’s upgrade and new device subscription model12 in the six countries forming the GCC. As a leading provider of phone, tablet and computer repairs in Canada, the Dr Phone Fix agreement will mean customers insured by Likewize can walk in to any of the 35 stores across 23 cities and get their repair completed. This type of arrangement has previously led to deeper collaborations and notably in an acquisition (Assurant - iSmash) in the UK. Expect to see more partnerships develop as proximity continues to play an important role in service design.
In what I'm sure promises to be the biggest deal announced this month, Recommerce partnered with Euronics13, one of the largest retail buying groups in the world. In Europe, Euronics claim to operate with 11,000 specialist stores and branches. From experience, these deals are often all sizzle and no steak. The agreement is probably limited to preferred supplier status or simply provides access to the operating companies with which Recommerce will have to contract under the framework agreement. Scaling the turnkey solution (which I assume is the CircularX platform) under such a structure will take significant time and effort to convince store owners of the ROI.
The end of the beginning in the Vodafone Three merger took place with the completion announcement at the very end of May14. Whilst most will focus on the headline investment (£11bn over 10years) and cost / capex synergies (£700m per year by year five), I couldn’t have put the real-world impact any better than the staff reporter at Mobile News: “If you’re a supplier affected by that merger, and you have contracts with Three or Vodafone, you already know what’s coming. The JV must prove its value to investors—fast. Cutting duplication is one of the clearest ways to do that. There will be winners and losers. And even the winners should brace for cost reviews”15.
Investments
Bolttech have now closed their Series-C round six months after it was announced that Dragon Fund, by Liberty and MUFG opened it at a $2.1bn valuation16. The latest investors, Sumitomo, who also entered into an agreement to deliver embedded insurance programs for their Asia-based partners and, Iberis Capital pushed the round up from $100m to $147m17. Plenty of cash to continue global domination.
Delfio, the Amsterdam based platform company that helps buyers combine their orders into larger volumes and take the hassle out of electronics procurement, raised €1.5m in pre-seed funding18 from Peak. The platform tackles the fragmented procurement to unlock better pricing and terms.
In a not at all confusing name puzzle, Recommerce Group who launched RS Switzerland SA (Recommerce Swiss) thankfully acquired Swiss based Recommerce AG (Verkaufen.ch) continuing European consolidation and strengthening their overall position19. Recommerce Group gain local expertise in multi-product repair (smartphones, smartwatches, PCs, MacBooks, etc.) and a team of 50 employees, including 30 technicians. Verkaufen.ch also have a bunch of manufacturer accreditations including Apple and Samsung.
I think there’s probably a full article’s worth of information developing on third-party recommerce software. For now, Renow raised €1.8m in seed-funding lead by Greencode Ventures and supported by follow-ons from existing investors Superhero Capital and Street Smart Capital20. The new money will be put to work expanding their platform and logistics partner network and growing sales and product teams across Northern Europe. Archive, another software launched Repowered this month, Peloton’s consumer to consumer marketplace for their own kit.
devicenow, the CHG-Meridian company offering DaaS for business, further expanded it’s global presence by opening new offices in Malaysia reinforcing their commitment to better support local clients and the fast growing SE Asia market more generally21.
Regular readers of the Round Up will not be surprised to see there’s been more announcements regarding Servify’s IPO summarised here. Although prior to that, they are apparently seeking to raise $12.5m from the International Finance Corporation as part of a $100m pre-IPO round22. There’s so many articles commenting on the news it’s pretty difficult to make head nor tail of what’s going on and at this stage it might be useful for the owner to set the record straight.
According to their website, Reconomy, makes it simpler and more financially rewarding for businesses to play their part in the circular economy, helping close circularity gaps and connect waste with those who can use it as a resource. They’ve just invested £1m in research hub CircuLab, based in Bucharest, which will advance the circular economy specialist’s research in sustainability, environmental science, resource management and chemistry23. Good stuff.
I said it would be long. Well done for getting to the end and if you’re in Europe over the next few days, stay cool and stay safe.
Peace,
sb.