What Smoothedge does

SmoothEdge is a UK-based, privately held company founded in 2021 by Sam, Leah, and Justin that designs and sells handmade glassware and refillable tealight candles upcycled from waste glass bottles. The core technology is a bottle-to-glassware upcycling process that cuts, finishes, and polishes discarded spirit, wine, beer, and olive oil bottles into functional tumblers, carafes, jugs, vases, and candles — preserving original bottle branding such as the Bombay Sapphire, Bacardi, Grey Goose, and Mermaid Gin marks on the finished pieces. The company cites a carbon footprint of over 100x less than factory-made glassware and reports more than 20,000 bottles diverted from landfill.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer model through a Shopify-powered storefront at smoothedge.co.uk, with pricing on individual pieces ranging from $11 to $92 and multi-buy discounts up to 15%. A parallel Etsy storefront serves US customers, and a B2B wholesale channel supplies hospitality venues. SmoothEdge also offers Corporate Gift Sets, a Custom Bottle Orders service where customers can send their own bottles for upcycling, and a Collaborations program for alcohol brands seeking branded merchandise from their own waste bottles. Named product partners include Isle of White Distillery (Mermaid Gin line) and Orkney Distillery, with a broader portfolio of branded glassware spanning major spirit marques.

Customer segments split between eco-conscious individual consumers and hospitality businesses, supplemented by corporate gifting buyers and distillery/brewery brand partners. Marketing is driven by sustainability storytelling, blog content, organic social (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), and earned media coverage from BBC, Lad Bible, and Now This News. The company has accumulated 600+ customer reviews with an 'Excellent' rating, is bootstrapped with no external funding disclosed, and operates with a small founding team.

Name

Smoothedge

Legal name

SmoothEdge

Website

https://smoothedge.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SmoothEdge is a UK-based, bootstrapped company founded in 2021 that designs and sells handmade glassware and refillable tealight candles upcycled from waste spirit, wine, and beer bottles, serving eco-conscious consumers, hospitality venues, and corporate gifting buyers through Shopify and Etsy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Upcycled Glassware & Sustainable Homeware

NAICS

Other Pressed and Blown Glass and Glassware Manufacturing (327212)

SIC

Glass Products, Made Of Purchased Glass (3231)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty & Decorative Glass Packaging (Custom Shapes, Embossed, Premium) (IMALAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Home Fragrance (Candles, Diffusers, Room Sprays) (CRABADAE)

Keywords

• Upcycled glassware
• Handmade barware
• Refillable candles
• Waste bottle products
• Eco-friendly homeware

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Direct E-commerce Product Sales: One-time purchase of upcycled glassware products (tumblers, carafes, vases, tealights) through their Shopify e-commerce store. Products are handmade from waste bottles and sold at various price points ($11-$92+).
2. Wholesale Glassware: B2B wholesale channel supplying upcycled glassware to businesses including restaurants, cafés, bars, and hospitality venues.
3. Corporate Gift Sets: Pre-packaged gift sets designed for corporate gifting occasions, targeting business customers looking for sustainable corporate gifts.
4. Custom Bottle Orders: Customers can send their own bottles to be upcycled into custom glassware pieces through the 'Send Your Bottles' custom order service.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SmoothEdge designs and sells handmade glassware (tumblers, pint glasses, carafes, jugs, vases) and refillable tealight candles upcycled from discarded spirit, wine, beer, and olive oil bottles. Each piece retains the original bottle's branding and shape, producing distinctive branded barware and homeware. Products are sold direct-to-consumer via Shopify and Etsy, with additional wholesale, corporate gift, custom-bottle, and brand-collaboration services for businesses.

Product overview

Smoothedge is a small UK-based company that upcycles glass bottles into handmade eco-friendly glassware and refillable candles. The core product portfolio consists of individual upcycled glasses and tumblers made from spirit bottles (gin, vodka, rum, whisky), wine bottles, and other beverage containers, as well as tealight candles made from repurposed wine bottles with wax refill tins. Products span individual glasses (Mermaid Gin Glass, Bombay Sapphire Gin Glass, Grey Goose Vodka Pint Glass), wine bottle glassware (Green Wine Bottle Glasses, Clear Wine Bottle Glasses in various frosted finishes), carafes and jugs (Clear Wine Bottle Carafe, Olive Carafe), and bundled sets (Mermaid Gin Tealight & Tumbler Sets). The company also offers complementary business services including Wholesale Glassware for bulk orders, Corporate Gift Sets for customization, and a Custom Bottle Orders service where customers can send their own bottles to be transformed. The products are sold through the company's Shopify e-commerce platform with an emphasis on sustainability—claiming over 100 times less carbon than factory-made glassware.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Upcycled Spirit Bottle Glassware Handmade branded glassware upcycled from recognizable spirit and beer bottles (Mermaid Gin, Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose, Absolut, Aperol, Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Corona, Haig Club, Isle of Harris, Jameson), targeted at eco-conscious consumers and brand-affinity gift buyers.
• Upcycled Wine Bottle Glassware Everyday tumblers made from upcycled wine bottles, available in green, clear, and olive-color variants and frosted/half-frosted/clear finishes, for sustainable home bar and tableware use.
• Carafes and Jugs Handmade carafes and jugs produced from upcycled glass bottles (Bombay Sapphire, clear and green wine bottles, olive oil bottles), sold as standalone pieces for sustainable home entertaining and décor.
• Refillable Tealight Candles Refillable tealight candles housed in upcycled Bombay Sapphire (and other) bottles, with wax refills available, designed for sustainable home décor and gifting.
• Mermaid Gin Tealight & Tumbler Sets (bundled sets) Bundled gift-style sets that pair a refillable tealight candle with a matching tumbler glass, both upcycled from Mermaid Gin, Pink Gin, Rum, Vodka, or Zest Gin bottles, marketed as a higher-value gift option.
• Olive Wine Bottle Jug and Tumbler Set Bundled set pairing an upcycled olive wine bottle jug with matching tumblers, positioned as a coordinated sustainable home entertaining gift.
• Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru Vase Standalone handmade vase upcycled from a Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru bottle, sold as a sustainable home décor piece.
• Olive Tumblers and Olive Half Frosted Tumblers Tumbler sets made from upcycled olive oil bottles, including a frosted-finish variant, targeted at sustainable everyday glassware buyers.
• Mystery Box Discounted mystery selection of upcycled glassware sold as a single SKU for value-oriented buyers.
• Perfectly Imperfect Mystery Box Discounted mystery box containing upcycled glassware with minor cosmetic imperfections, offering a lower-priced entry point.
• Gift Voucher Digital gift voucher available in multiple denominations, redeemable across the SmoothEdge product catalog.
• Wholesale Glassware B2B wholesale program supplying upcycled glassware in bulk to restaurants, cafés, bars, and hospitality venues seeking sustainable tableware and barware.
• Corporate Gift Sets Customizable pre-packaged corporate gift sets featuring upcycled glassware, designed for business customers seeking sustainable corporate gifts for employees, clients, or events.
• Send Your Bottles (Custom Bottle Order Service) Custom order service where customers send their own bottles to SmoothEdge to be transformed into personalized upcycled glassware pieces, sold as a bespoke service.
• Brand Collaborations Brand collaboration program enabling beverage brands (distilleries, breweries, wineries) to co-create upcycled branded glassware and merchandise from their waste bottles, with documented partnerships including Isle of White Distillery (Mermaid Gin range) and Orkney Distillery.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 times less carbon produced compared to factory-made glassware
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Isle of White DistillerycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIsle of White Distillery is a key partner whose bottles are upcycled into branded Mermaid Gin glassware. Products include Mermaid Gin Tumblers, Mermaid Pink Gin Glasses, Mermaid Rum Tumblers, and Mermaid Vodka Tumblers - all featuring the distinctive Isle of White Distillery branding.
• Orkney DistillerycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured in SmoothEdge blog post showcasing partnership to give Orkney Distillery bottles a second life. Represents craft distillery upcycling collaboration from Orkney.
• Coaltown CoffeeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoffee company featured in SmoothEdge imagery. Their bottles are used in product photography on the website.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform powering smoothedge.co.uk website. Enables online store functionality including payments, shipping, and customer management.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Dartington Crystal: UK-based glassware brand offering tumblers, vases, and giftware, widely sold through retail and gifting channels. Comparable as a UK glassware/giftware incumbent with overlapping customer occasions, though produced via conventional manufacturing.
• Cumbria Crystal: Long-established UK handmade glassware manufacturer producing premium drinking glasses and homeware. Relevant because it is a UK glassware brand competing for similar gifting and home-entertaining occasions, but at much larger scale and via traditional (not upcycled) production.
• Orrefors: Swedish crystal/glassware maker producing premium tumblers and decorative glassware. Comparable as a premium decorative-glass brand sold through design and gifting channels, but operating at very different scale and price architecture.
• Holmegaard: Danish heritage glassmaker producing tumblers, carafes, vases, and candleware. Comparable as a glassware-and-candle brand targeting premium home/dining occasions, paralleling SmoothEdge's combined glassware + tealight candle offering.
• LSA International: Contemporary handmade glassware and homeware brand with strong UK and international retail distribution. Comparable as a design-led, premium-positioned glassware brand in similar gifting and entertaining occasions, but at established scale rather than bootstrapped.

Emerging players

• Weaver Green: UK-based sustainable homeware brand making textiles and accessories from recycled materials. Comparable as a small, mission-led UK retailer targeting eco-conscious home and gift buyers with sustainability as the lead proposition, mirroring SmoothEdge's positioning rather than product category.

Regional players

• Sagaform: Swedish homeware brand offering glasses, carafes, and candle-driven gift sets. Comparable product mix (drinking glassware plus candles), serving Scandinavian design-led gifting customers rather than directly competing in the UK upcycled niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SmoothEdge1/?locale=en_GB
• Instagraminstagram.com/smoothedge_
• Pinterestpinterest.co.uk/SmoothEdge
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smoothedgeupcycling

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Smoothedge