Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar invests in waste recycling startup Recykal's $23 million round

Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has invested in Recykal, a Hyderabad-based waste management and recycling platform, joining as a strategic investor in an extension of the company's $23 million bridge round.

Recykal, which announced the investment this week, did not disclose how much Tendulkar put in. The bridge round, which closed in June, drew primary and secondary capital from existing investors and a group of new family offices. The newcomers included Biological E Ltd. Managing Director Mahima Datla and AIG Hospitals' Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy and P.V.S. Raju. The remaining $14 million came from existing investors including 360 ONE Asset Management.

"Lasting success is built on discipline and consistent efforts," Tendulkar said. "I hope together we can encourage more people to make responsible choices every day."

Abhay Deshpande, Recykal's chief executive officer and co-founder, called Tendulkar's arrival "incredibly meaningful."

Founded in 2015 by Abhay and Abhishek Deshpande, Recykal runs a technology platform that links brands, producers, recyclers, aggregators and waste collectors. It sells software that helps companies meet India's extended producer responsibility rules, operates a marketplace for recyclable materials, runs deposit return systems and builds AI-enabled reverse vending machines.

The company says it has channelled more than 3 million metric tonnes of waste and works with about 650 brands, including Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Samsung and BMW, and more than 5,000 aggregators and recyclers.

Revenue climbs

Gross revenue rose 53.2% to ₹1,498 crore ($157.4 million) in the financial year ended March 2026, from ₹978 crore ($102.7 million) a year earlier. The loss widened to ₹60 crore ($6.3 million) from ₹56 crore ($5.9 million), but shrank to about 4% of gross revenue from roughly 5.7%.

360 ONE led Recykal's ₹110 crore ($11.6 million) pre-Series B round in April 2024, and funds managed by Morgan Stanley India are earlier investors. Early backer Circulate Capital has made a full exit, earning about five times its money.

Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in the history of Test and one-day international cricket, has been backing startups since 2013, when he made his first bet on travel company Musafir. He now has 15 portfolio companies, and used-car platform Spinny is the only unicorn among them.

Figures were converted at ₹95.2 to the dollar.