What Regenize does

Regenize is a Cape Town-based impact startup that builds recycling and zero-waste retail infrastructure for underserved South African communities. Its core offerings are the Remali mobile application, which rewards household recycling with virtual currency redeemable for airtime, data, and grocery vouchers; the Zero Waste Spaza product line, which installs bulk food dispensers and an inventory app at female-owned spaza shops to enable packaging-free staple food sales; and a network of decentralized community recycling hubs that integrate informal waste collectors into the formal recycling economy. By March 2025, the company had established 10 recycling hubs, engaged more than 6,600 households, and set a target of serving 26,000 low-income households and diverting 30,000 tons of waste from landfills.

The business model is anchored in venture philanthropy and grant funding rather than direct consumer fees. Recycling services are provided free of charge to low-income households; capital has come from GSMA Innovation Fund and Government of Canada grants in 2022 and an undisclosed venture philanthropy round from E Squared Investments in 2025. The company is beginning to monetize through corporate partnerships with food producers for Zero Waste Spaza sourcing and through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) cost-reduction services for corporate partners. Founded by Chad Robertson (CEO) and Nkazimlo Miti (COO), Regenize operates with 101–250 employees and is headquartered at 14 Fisher Avenue, Epping, Cape Town, serving exclusively the South African market.

Name

Regenize

Legal name

Regenize

Website

https://regenize.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Regenize is a Cape Town-based impact startup operating the Remali recycling-rewards mobile app, the Zero Waste Spaza bulk-food dispenser network for female-owned spaza shops, and 10 decentralized recycling hubs serving low-income South African households, funded primarily through grants and venture philanthropy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Waste Management Services

NAICS

Waste Collection (56211), Materials Recovery Facilities (562920)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Reusable Packaging & Refill Systems (Returnable Transport Items, Deposit/DRS Ops) (EUAIANAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bulk Food & Refill Stores (Package-Free/Zero-Waste) (CRAHAMAA), Circular Economy & Waste/Materials Reporting (Zero waste, packaging) (EUAHAJAL)

Keywords

• Waste management services
• Recycling solutions
• Mobile recycling app
• Zero waste retail
• Community recycling hubs

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Recycling Services: Free recycling services provided to low-income households through decentralized recycling hubs. Revenue model appears to be funded through grants and impact investments rather than direct user fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Regenize operates community-based decentralized recycling hubs and the Remali mobile app, which enables low-income South African households to earn virtual currency for recycling that is redeemable for airtime, data, and grocery vouchers at partner spaza shops. The company also offers Zero Waste Spaza, a bulk food dispenser solution installed at women-owned spaza shops that allows customers to buy staple foods in custom quantities using their own containers, eliminating single-use packaging.

Product overview

Regenize is a South African zero waste solutions company operating a multi-product portfolio consisting of the Remali Mobile App (a virtual currency-based recycling rewards platform), Zero Waste Spaza (a bulk food dispensing solution for women-owned spaza shops), and a network of decentralized recycling hubs. These offerings work together to integrate informal waste collectors into the formal recycling economy while reducing single-use plastic waste in communities. The company serves low-income households across South Africa, enabling recycling participation through mobile technology and community-based infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Remali: Mobile app enabling households to earn virtual currency for recycling, redeemable for airtime, data, and grocery vouchers at local spaza shops.

Products and services

• Remali Mobile App A mobile application for South African households that enables users to earn virtual currency by recycling and redeem that currency for airtime, data, and grocery vouchers at local spaza shops. It integrates informal waste collectors into the formal recycling economy and is targeted at low-income consumers.
• Zero Waste Spaza A solution enabling women Spaza Shop owners to buy and sell staple foods at bulk prices in small quantities without creating packaging waste. Includes bulk dispensers installed at participating shops and an associated app that tracks product quantities and amounts dispensed to customers, managing inventory without packaging.
• Decentralized Recycling Hubs Community-based recycling facilities that expand recycling accessibility in South Africa by integrating informal waste collectors into the formal recycling economy. By March 2025, 10 hubs were operational, engaging over 6,600 households.

Quantifiable outcome

• 472 tonnes of plastic waste avoided annually for 10,000 Zero Waste Spaza users
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Plastic Bank: Plastic Bank operates a global network of collection points where low-income collectors exchange plastic waste for digital rewards (cash, groceries, insurance). It is the closest analog to Regenize's Remali model of converting recycling behavior into digital redeemable currency, focused on social impact and plastic leakage reduction in developing markets.
• Litterati: Litterati is a data-platform/app that helps individuals and communities track and catalog litter for cleanup. It shares Regenize's mobile-app-led approach to drive recycling/clean-up behavior and provides a comparable technology-and-incentive overlay on top of grassroots collection.
• Wildfill: Wildfill is a South African zero-waste refillery and bulk-food retail concept similar in retail format to Zero Waste Spaza, allowing customers to refill containers with staples, cleaning products, and personal care items. It is the closest domestic retail-format peer to the Zero Waste Spaza proposition.

Regional players

• Mr. Green Africa: Mr. Green Africa is a Kenyan recycling startup that buys post-consumer plastic waste and integrates informal waste pickers into formal recovery supply chains — strikingly similar in mission and African emerging-market context to Regenize's hubs and informal waste collector integration.
• Gjenge Makers: Gjenge Makers converts mixed plastic waste into construction products in Kenya, sourcing from waste pickers. It shares Regenize's intersection of environmental impact, informal-collector integration, and African emerging-market execution, though its output is building materials rather than refill/retail.
• ECO Act / PET Recycling Company (PETCO South Africa): PETCO is the South African industry body managing PET recycling and EPR scheme for the plastics value chain. As South Africa formalizes EPR, PETCO-style schemes will be the contractual counterparties Regenize engages with for monetization — directly comparable in territory and category.
• Ecofirma (South Africa): Ecofirma is an early-stage South African waste management and zero-waste consulting service. Operating in the same domestic regulatory and market context as Regenize, it provides a regional comparison on formal recycling and EPR services in South Africa.

Broad incumbents

• Recyclebank: Recyclebank is the longest-running US-based rewards-for-recycling platform (points for green actions, redeemable at retailers). It is a broader, established incumbent offering similar household-incentive architecture to Regenize's Remali virtual currency system, validating the underlying engagement model at population scale.
• Unpackaged: Unpackaged is a UK-based pioneer of zero-waste refillery retail and reusable packaging consulting. It is a broader, established incumbent in the package-free refill retail category that Regenize's Zero Waste Spaza operates within, providing retail-format and supply-chain comparables.

Others

• Reloop Platform / Close the Loop initiatives: Reloop is an international policy and industry platform focused on circular economy, deposit-return/refill systems, and packaging policy. It is an enabler/ecosystem organization that shapes the regulatory and corporate procurement environment within which Regenize's refill and EPR model operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/zerowastespaza/?hl=en
• Xx.com/Regenize

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 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 Regenize