MacroCycle Technologies

What MacroCycle Technologies does

MacroCycle Technologies is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cleantech startup founded at MIT in fall 2022 that has developed a proprietary macrocycle-based chemical recycling process for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and polyester waste. The company's underlying technology uses ring-chain chemistry to depolymerize polyester back into its chemical building blocks, a process the company reports reduces energy consumption by approximately 80% compared to virgin PET production. The technology is positioned as a drop-in replacement sold at market rates without a green premium, addressing the historical cost penalty that has limited chemical recycling adoption. Production is currently at pilot scale, with reactor capacity of 220 lbs per batch.

The company generates revenue by selling recycled monomers/intermediates to fashion brands through a direct B2B sales motion. Its customer base is concentrated in the fashion/apparel segment, and no specific brand logos have been publicly disclosed. Capital structure reflects a deep-tech, grant-supported profile: approximately $9.5M-$10.9M has been raised across a $6.5M seed round (February 2025) co-led by Clean Energy Ventures, Volta Circle, and Indorama Ventures, an SEC-exempt offering of approximately $3M (February 2026), and non-dilutive grants including NSF SBIR Phase I, Breakthrough Energy, MassCEC ($350K, August 2025), and AFFOA PAFF 3.0 (June 2026). The company operates with 1-10 employees and holds patents on its core ring-chain chemistry.

The strategic posture is partnership-led scaling: a senior partnerships hire (Brontë McGarrah, formerly of GoogleX and Greentown Labs) was added to build commercial channels, and Indorama Ventures, one of the world's largest PET producers, is both an investor and a likely offtake partner, providing a potential path from pilot to industrial deployment. Headcount is small, commercial revenue is early, and the company's competitive position is anchored on its patented chemistry, its energy-cost advantage, and the strategic relationship with Indorama.

Name

MacroCycle Technologies

Legal name

MacroCycle Technologies Inc.

Website

https://macrocycle.tech

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MacroCycle Technologies is a Cambridge, MA-based MIT spinout (founded 2022) that uses proprietary macrocycle ring-chain chemistry to chemically recycle PET and polyester waste at 80% lower energy than virgin production, selling drop-in recycled monomers to fashion brands at market rates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recycled Plastics Manufacturing

NAICS

Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing (325211), Custom Compounding of Purchased Resins (325991)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Plastic Material, Synth Resin/Rubber, Cellulos (No Glass) (2820)

akta.pro primary industry

Recycled & Reprocessed Polymer Resin Manufacturing (rPET, rPP, rPE; PCR/PIR resins) (IMANAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recycled Resin Trading & Distribution (PCR/PIR Commodity Markets) (EUAIAKAK), Reprocessed Resin & Recycled Polymer Compounding (PCR/PIR Compounds) (IMANAMAG)

Keywords

• Chemical recycling
• Recycled PET resins
• Plastic upcycling
• Circular plastics
• Textile recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Recycled PET and Polyester Resin Sales: MacroCycle generates revenue from selling high-quality recycled PET and polyester resins to fashion brands and other customers. The company produces virgin-grade materials at cost comparable to virgin plastic, enabling competitive pricing without requiring a green premium. Revenue is currently derived from B2B sales to fashion brands with expansion into broader markets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MacroCycle Technologies produces and sells virgin-grade recycled PET and polyester resins manufactured from plastic and polyester waste using its proprietary macrocycle-based ring-chain chemistry. The drop-in replacement resins are sold at market-rate pricing to fashion brands and industrial manufacturers without requiring a green premium, achieving 80% lower energy use than traditional virgin polyester production.

Product overview

MacroCycle Technologies offers a proprietary chemical recycling technology that converts plastic and textile waste into virgin-grade MacroCycle PET and polyester resins. The company's core offering is its patented macrocycle-based recycling process that achieves 80% energy reduction compared to traditional processes, producing drop-in replacement resins at market pricing without a green premium. The technology enables fully circular plastics made without carbon emissions, addressing PCR Regulations, eliminating landfill and ocean-bound plastics, and lowering Scope 3 emissions for fashion brands and manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MacroCycle PET and Polyester Resins

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% lower energy use than traditional virgin polyester production processes
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• AFFOA (Advanced Functional Fabrics of America)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Selected as awardee in AFFOA's Product Accelerator for Functional Fabrics (PAFF 3.0) program. The partnership provides no-cost access to prototyping, testing, and manufacturing scale-up capabilities. MacroCycle's project focuses on textile-to-textile recycling technology to strengthen domestic advanced textile manufacturing.
• MIT Delta vflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccelerator program that supported MacroCycle through its demo day in 2023, providing mentorship, resources, and ecosystem connections for early-stage deep tech ventures.
• MIT Sandbox Innovation FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMIT program providing early-stage funding and support for student and faculty entrepreneurs developing innovative technologies.
• NSF I-CorpscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Science Foundation program providing entrepreneurship training and customer discovery support for scientific researchers commercializing innovations.
• Plug and Play Tech CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal innovation platform and accelerator connecting startups with corporate partners for technology partnerships and business development.
• Greentown LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoston-based cleantech incubator and community providing workspace, mentorship, and ecosystem connections for climate technology startups. MacroCycle has established strong ties within Boston's cleantech ecosystem through this partnership.
• 100 AcceleratorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal accelerator program supporting sustainability-focused startups with mentorship and resources.
• Remade InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitute focused on sustainable manufacturing and materials innovation, supporting development of circular economy solutions.
• Swissnex BostonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal network connecting Swiss and international innovation ecosystems, supporting cross-border collaboration in science and technology.
• Politecnico di MilanocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research expertise in polymerization and chemical engineering. Edoardo Terreni conducted PhD thesis research at Politecnico di Milano under Prof. Storti and Prof. Moscatelli on MacroCycle technology optimization.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Carbios: French biotech company developing enzymatic depolymerization recycling of PET into virgin-grade monomers. Directly comparable as a chemical/biological recycling route targeting fashion and packaging brands with PCR-grade outputs. Notably partnered with Indorama Ventures, sharing one of MacroCycle's key investors.
• Loop Industries: Canada/US-based chemical PET recycler using a depolymerization process to produce virgin-grade Loop PET from low-value and mixed PET waste. Directly comparable in target output (virgin-grade recycled PET) and target customers (fashion and packaging brands).
• Ioniqa Technologies: Netherlands-based chemical recycler that depolymerizes PET waste back to monomers for repolymerization into virgin-grade PET. Directly comparable technology category and customer base (brand owners seeking recycled content) with MacroCycle's macrocycle-based chemistry.
• Plastic Energy: UK-based advanced recycling company converting plastic waste into recycled feedstock ( pyrolysis oil) for new plastic production. Comparable as a chemical recycling route serving brand-owner demand for circular plastics, though using a different process technology.
• Jeplan: Japan-based chemical PET recycler focused on textile-to-textile recycling of polyester garments. Highly comparable as it targets the same fashion/textile circularity problem MacroCycle addresses with its mixed textile waste processing capability.
• ReNew ELP: UK-based chemical recycler using a hydrothermal process to convert plastic waste into recovered feedstock oils for new plastic production. Comparable as an advanced recycling technology competing for the same brand-owner and converter customers.

Broad incumbents

• Eastman Chemical: Large specialty chemical incumbent whose Eastman Renew process (chemical recycling of polyester and PET waste into virgin-equivalent materials) directly competes in the same recycled-PET-for-fashion-and-packaging market. Comparable as a broad incumbent with much larger balance sheet and established offtake agreements.
• Danimer Scientific: US-based public bioplastics company producing PHA-based biodegradable polymers as substitutes for conventional plastics. Comparable as a sustainable plastics platform competing for the same brand-owner sustainability mandates, with principal process engineer Kyle Sherry joining MacroCycle from Danimer.

Emerging players

• Origin Materials: US-based chemistry company producing sustainable PET and polyesters from biomass feedstocks (chloromethyl-furfural route). Comparable as an alternative low-carbon PET supply targeting fashion and packaging, though using virgin-feedstock displacement rather than waste-stream recycling.
• Gr3n Recycling: Switzerland-based chemical recycler using microwave-assisted depolymerization to recycle PET into virgin-grade monomers. Comparable as a European chemical PET recycling startup pursuing fashion and packaging brand offtakes with similar end-product positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/macrocycle-technologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MacroCycle Technologies