Exclusive: Delhi-based e-waste management company Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd has received series A funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA IndoUS Ventures. The amount invested is not known. Attero was founded in 2007 by the brothers, Rohan Gupta and Nitin Gupta. The company plans to set up an automated Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) processing plant with a recycling efficiency of 98 per cent.
India offers an opportunity for e-waste management companies as the country has become a dumping ground for e-wastes. The IT sector in the country is the largest contributor to e-waste (over 30 per cent) with Bangalore alone generating around 8,000 tonne of e-waste annually. Then there are others like mobile phones and TV sets contributing to the e-waste menace.
According to Toxics Link, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, India generates about 1.5 million tonne of e-waste yearly. Another pointer is that the average life of PCs are coming down from 4.5 years in 1992 to 3 years now. Also about 30 per cent of PCs are being obsolete every year, according to a report.
Besides Attero in Delhi, there are others like E-Parisara and , both in Bangalore (set up in 2005), and AER Recycler.
DFJ has been on a deal overdrive since it set up shop in India in mid-last year. The firm has made 17 investments including the four unannounced ones in the last 2.5 years. The new four investments include Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd, Catura Systems, an Hyderabad based online publishing company and a Bangalore based semi-conductor company
