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Apr 28, 2022 | Weingarten

CHG-MERIDIAN co-founds B2B start-up that remarkets refurbished IT

• circulee offers sustainable solutions for the use of IT hardware to small and medium-sized businesses
• The use of second-hand IT equipment reduces the carbon footprint by 70-80 percent compared with new devices
• As co-founder and principal investor, CHG-MERIDIAN wants to make sustainable lifecycle management a driver of growth

The Berlin-based technology start-up circulee offers small and medium-sized business customers an opportunity to switch to cost-effective and sustainable IT hardware. To this end, it provides solutions that are based on the principles of the circular economy and combine certified refurbished IT hardware such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops with complementary services. CHG-MERIDIAN has co-founded and invested in this business. The international technology manager and financing expert wants to drive sustainable growth and apply its more than 40 years of expertise in lifecycle management to new business models.

Awareness of the need to do business in a sustainable way is also growing among small and medium-sized companies. As a result, IT decision-makers are becoming increasingly willing to consider alternative options when it comes to the procurement of hardware. Recent surveys show that one in three businesses already use second-hand hardware in order to capitalize on greater sustainability and cost benefits without having to compromise on high quality and technical specifications.

The approach of circulee is to professionally refurbish devices at the end of their initial usage period, to erase all data stored on them, and to subsequently remarket them for a second usage period. Reusing devices in this way extends their total lifecycle, saves valuable resources, and thus reduces the carbon footprint of the user. This puts less pressure on the environment and helps companies to save time and money.

"We have been seeing a steady increase in demand for second-hand IT. This is driven not only by attractive prices and growing awareness of the need to choose sustainable products, but also by current supply bottlenecks and microchip shortages. circulee is our way of responding to this demand in a way that is tailored to the market, offers quick solutions for sustainable IT, and represents a logical extension of our own lifecycle management concept."
Dr. Mathias Wagner, Chairman of the Board of Management CHG-MERIDIAN

CHG-MERIDIAN has been championing the principles of the circular economy for more than 40 years and uses a certified process at its proprietary technology centers to professionally refurbish IT devices that are returned under leasing or rental schemes. The second-hand devices marketed by circulee are also sourced from these tech centers.

“Setting up new companies like circulee presents an opportunity for us to invest in new business models that complement our own core competencies. This enables us to broaden our strategic setup and access new customer groups,” explains Dr. Wagner.

Focus on small and medium-sized B2B customers

The primary target group of circulee comprises small and medium-sized enterprises that want to significantly reduce their procurement costs through the use of second-hand devices and lower the carbon footprint of their IT equipment by up to 80 percent compared with the purchase and use of new devices.

The offering is rounded off with further benefits and services that are tailored to the needs of business customers, from ready-to-use products to quick and hassle-free order processes and a digital device management portal (the ‘cockpit’).

“Currently, circulee provides exclusively top-quality second-hand IT hardware that comes with a twelve-month guarantee and is offered together with complementary, hardware-related services,” says Managing Director Thomas Gros, who is part of the team of entrepreneurs that founded the new enterprise together with CHG-MERIDIAN. The IT devices marketed by circulee are products from leading manufacturers such as Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft, Dell, or HP.

Thomas Gros,
Managing Director circulee GmbH
“Our aim is to embed the use of second-hand IT hardware in companies as a long-term concept and to help our customers to implement digital processes in a way that is compatible with sustainability requirements. circulee strives to make it easy for business customers to become sustainable. At the moment, we are focusing on the German market, but we do have plans to break into other European markets in the future.”
Thomas Gros, Managing Director circulee GmbH

Downloads

  • 20220428_CHG_Pressemitteilung_Circulee_ENG.docx

    docx, 70 KB
  • 20220428_CHG_Pressemitteilung_Circulee_ENG.pdf

    pdf, 373 KB
  • CHG-MERIDIAN_Mathias Wagner_Pressebild.jpg

    jpg, 105 KB
  • CHG_Thomas Gros_CEO_circulee.jpg

    jpg, 40 KB
  • CHG_circulee_logo.jpg

    jpg, 85 KB

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