By Daniel Perez-Crouse
Portland-based startup Bold Reuse was one of 25 businesses awarded funding by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop technologies that address public health and environmental challenges.
The SBIR is an annual, two-phase competition. The first phase awards $100,000 over six months for “proof of concept” of a proposed technology. Companies that complete Phase I can then apply for Phase II funding of up to $400,000 to further develop and commercialize their technology.
Bold Reuse’s organizational goal is to end single-use waste with reusable packaging. For example, they work with local organizations like Moda Center and the Trailblazers to provide reusable food ware and cups. Bold Reuse then collects, inspects, cleans, sanitizes and repacks the cups to be ready for their next event.
While based in Portland, they have expanded their partnerships to cities like Seattle, Kansas City and Charlotte.
Co-founder and CEO of Bold Reuse, Jocelyn Quarrell, said their recent growth has been massive. “Last year was our biggest year ever. We grew three times our 2023 numbers. Most of that growth was driven through what we call closed loop environments—primarily professional sports stadiums.”
When it comes to this surge in demand for their services, Quarrell said, “Folks are recognizing that traditional options on the market, whether they are recyclable or compostable, are not achieving their sustainability goals, nor are they helping to provide for an elevated customer experience, and reuse enables both of those needs to be addressed.”
Bold Reuse won funding for its proposal to create a novel inventory management system (IMS)—which they say is a crucial component of delivering a reliable supply chain necessary to transition from single-use products to reusable packaging at scale.
As stated in the description of their proposal, the IMS would reduce labor overhead of monitoring and purchasing, encourage maximum asset utilization and minimize warehouse storage space, prevent rush orders, ensure timely deliveries and enable a comprehensive view of assets to forecast future needs and leverage cost-saving buying practices.
Quarrel says one of the major data points they track is return rates. For example, how many beverages were sold at an event, and how many cups were collected? “That changes from event to event, and it impacts return rates, and thus it impacts inventory. So we want to build out a system that communicates directly with our clients, what are called point of sales systems, so we have those data points and we can start using them in real-time as soon as we know it.”
Should it be completed, the IMS may also be offered as a software-as-a-service model to other reuse providers and municipalities.
Quarrell says this grant and proposed technology support their current clients and help them identify the needs of new partnerships—especially around inventory management. “So, we’re seeing the greatest business opportunity in the closed loop space right now, but we know that in the next few years, the appetite is going to increase in open loop environments—like retail and grocery. These are billions of products that are going to be moving through reuse systems in just a few short years, so that is very much the scale that we’re leading to.”
The funding phase lasts December 16, 2024-June 15, 2025. After this, Bold Reuse can apply for the second phase of funding.
“We recognize the opportunity to achieve our goals with this Phase I SBIR grant, and then set us up for success to apply for Phase II grants and enable us to build something useful for the entire industry.”