Zerodha's Rainmatter Backs PolyCycl in Series A to Scale Chemical Recycling Technology

Deep-tech company PolyCycl, which focuses on chemical recycling, has received an undisclosed Series A investment from Rainmatter, Zerodha’s climate and impact-focused investment arm. The funding will support deployment of PolyCycl’s platform that enables plastic-to-plastic circularity for hard-to-recycle plastics by converting them into liquid feedstocks. 

Calling it an emerging market Amit Tandon Founder & CEO, PolyCycl on Tuesday said, that chemical recycling is set to become a $10 to $20 billion industry in the next 10 years globally.

PolyCycl’s patented technology takes low grade or hard to recycle single use plastic waste like polythene bag, polyolefin packaging films, food contaminated boxes and bottles and more such products, and recovers the hydrocarbon molecules through their patented technology further converting it into liquified chemical feedstocks, basically a yellow to orange colour liquid. Now this liquid can be used by plastic manufacturers, petrochemical and oil and gas companies to produce food grade plastic materials, low-carbon plastics, renewable chemicals and so on. The purification of the waste materials done through technology meets strigent petrochemical standards.

For each ton of waste collected the output is more than 600kg to 800 kg of liquefied hydrocarbon oil, and on a daily basis each conversion train is capable of processing 15 TDP to 100TDP of discarded plastic, Tandon said adding that globally only 10% of plastic waste is recycled, leading to 5 billion tons of waste being accumulated.

After a decade of R&D the company in 2025 announced the launch of its Generation VI ContiFlow Cracker, which integrates its pyrolysis architecture and its proprietary purification technology. The platform has been validated through extended continuous operations, product pre-qualification by petrochemical majors, demonstrating technical maturity at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 and readiness for scalable deployments, it said.

Speaking on the revenue model, Amit said that, is going to be based on the licensing of technology, where they are looking for deployment this year. The project-level EBITDA margins will exceed 50%, following an asset-light global licensing model as the primary route to scale, PolyCycl said. 

Nithin Kamath, Founder at Zerodha and Rainmatter said, “One of the things we have constantly been chasing through Rainmatter is long term solutions to problems we see around us. Plastics and the end-of-life process around plastics need more teams working on it. PolyCycl is attempting to fix this plastics problem. We are excited to back them.”

Abhinav Singh Negi, Business and Investments, Rainmatter by Zerodha on Tuesday said, “The idea is that we need to develop industries and companies like Polycycle in India and it needs to be supported by patient capital where the investment is long term around 10 to 15 years with no short-term exit pressures and at the end of the maturity period we can move our representation and continue to do so.” He said added that, PolyCycl stands out for its engineering maturity and licensing potential, positioning it to scale credible recycling solutions in India and globally.

In 2025, PolyCycl partnered with L&T Technology Services for engineering design and project execution. Danish firm Topsoe has also evaluated the platform for its relevance to the energy transition. The company is backed by investors including Spectrum Impact (Aarti Industries’ family office), Milestone Gears, Supermorpheus, and high-net-worth individuals and other VC's, it said.

Over the next decade, PolyCycl said it plans to help recycle about 1.6 million tonnes of waste plastic each year, converting it into roughly 1.1 million tonnes of circular pyrolysis oil.

Deep Dive Into PolyCycl’s Tech

ContiFlow Cracker, is the patented conversion engine is PolyCycl’s flagship technology. The Generation VI ContiFlow Cracker, launched after more than a decade of R&D and over 1,50,000 engineering man-hours, uses a patented continuous reactor design, meaning the system runs non-stop rather than in batches.

• This allows higher uptime, stable operations, and consistent product quality, which are critical for industrial-scale plants.
• The system can handle dirty, mixed, and contaminated plastics, which are usually landfilled or burned.
• Conversion yields range from 65% to 80% by weight, which is high for chemical recycling processes.
• Each modular unit can process 15 to 100 tonnes of waste plastic per day, allowing the technology to scale flexibly across locations

Secondly, the PyOilClean, which makes industry-grade oil. The raw oil is produced from plastic cracking contains impurities such as halogens, nitrogen compounds, and metals is addressed this through this proprietary purification technology.

• It operates at ambient temperature and pressure, keeping energy costs low.
• It removes contaminants without hydrogen treatment, producing refined oils that meet petrochemical specifications.
• These oils are pre-qualified by global petrochemical companies to be used as circular feedstocks for making new plastics, including food-grade materials

Thridly, the PolyOlefinExtract, which helps in preparing the feedstock, by using a method to recover usable plastic from mixed municipal waste (both wet and dry).

• It uses low-cost, automated separation techniques
• This allows recovery of plastics that would otherwise be impossible to sort economically

Together, PolyOlefinExtract, ContiFlow Cracker, and PyOilClean form a complete end-to-end recycling stack—from waste collection to refinery-ready circular feedstock

PolyCycl holds eight international patents across India and the US, with more pending. Its key differentiation lies in combining continuous operation, low capital cost, high product quality, and strong unit economics, enabling an asset-light global licensing model for scale.

PolyCycl will use the funding to accelerate commercial rollouts with industrial partners, scale its technology and teams, and expand licensing and partnerships in India and global markets.