RTS - Volition Capital

Movement of Physical Things
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Sustainability

Recycle Track Systems (RTS) uses real-time technologies and data analytics to innovate waste and recycling management through its proprietary tracking system.

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ABOUT
BACKGROUND
WHY WE INVESTED
Career Opportunities
TEAM & ADVISORS
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@RTSGreen

A study found that whales consume millions of particles of #plastic every day as they filter feed in the #oceans For blue whales, the world’s largest animal, the estimate was 10 million pieces of plastic per day 🤯 https://t.co/BxKPWTe9Nv #microplastics #marinelife #pollution

ABOUT

Founded in 2015 by Greg Lettieri (CEO), and Adam Pasquale (COO), Recycle Track Systems (RTS), provides waste collection services to commercial businesses and municipalities in the US, with a focus on New York City, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The Comany operates as a truck-less waste collection provider, utilizing a network of independent waste haulers that are contracted to collect the waste on behalf of RTS. The Company’s technology platform includes hardware that is mounted within the trucks of its partner haulers and an integrated software platform that unifies the network of trucks into a single operation with strong customer service, accountability, and advanced reporting capabilities.

BACKGROUND

After launching in 2015, RTS grew rapidly and soon recognized the need to bring on a partner to keep pace with the growth trajectory. The team was extremely wary of involving investors, however.

In an interview with Co-Founder, Greg Lettieri, he recalled:

“We knew this market, and there was opportunity there. We were growing quickly, and we were doing it in a super lean, capital efficient way. But, two years in, we had brought the business as far as we could on our backs. We knew we needed a partner. We also wanted to make sure that if we were going to bring on an institutional investor with an equity position that we knew what we were getting ourselves into.”

Over a period of 6 months, Greg and Adam met dozens of investors. That’s when they connected with Volition Capital Managing Partner, Larry Cheng. “Larry understood the value proposition,” said Greg. “He believed that people wanted a better model, and that they wanted to recycle more. He also believed that we could pull off a tech solution and a product solution that could deliver.”

Volition Capital invested in RTS in 2017.

WHY WE INVESTED IN RTS

When Volition first met RTS, we immediately recognized how Greg and Adam were bringing unique technology to the huge, underserved, recession-proof market of waste and recycling management.

Despite the size of the waste industry, it is predominantly serviced by low tech competitors with little to no service orientation. We believe that RTS has an opportunity to bring technology innovation and a high customer service orientation into this industry which is lacking such a player. This thesis is being validated each day as RTS continues to expand geographies and customer segments while landing large recurring customers as the disruptor in the industry.

Larry’s perspective: “RTS’ exponential growth is a testament to the strength of their position in the waste market. In a market that is in dire need of a high service, high tech provider, RTS has met that need and is rapidly becoming the market leader. RTS is also fulfilling its mission of helping corporations and municipalities move towards better sustainability efforts and greater waste diversion. We are very excited about the opportunity for RTS to be the technology and service leader in the waste and recycling market.”

Fun Fact: According to Greg, he and Adam were in a WeWork conference room at the time they were negotiating the final term sheet with Volition. They happened to be over their allotted time, so the other tenants were trying to kick them out of the conference room. To save the room for another 30 minutes, Adam gave the guy $20 bucks and told him to go get a coffee.