Chi Tran is an International Human Resource Management student at Saxion University of Applied Sciences and DSIF Brand Director 2022-2023. She is responsible for online/offline marketing and is one of the decision-makers when it comes to investing.
In September 2022, Dutch Student Investment Fund invested €50,000 in the circular startup LoopTas founded by UT alumnus Udaya Vasepalli. Throughout the deal-flow process, DSIF has seen great commitment and enthusiasm from the founder and the team in their vision toward a more sustainable future for all. Their complementary skill sets and clear go-to-market strategy show great potential for LoopTas. The funding from DSIF support LoopTas in their R&D, sales, marketing, and team development.
“Through DSIF, I hope to get access to a bigger network with new investment opportunities for the company”
Udaya Vasepalli, the Founder and CEO at LoopTas.
LoopTas was founded in 2020. Seeing staggering data about the amount of plastic waste from reusable and disposable shopping bags and struggling with a collection of unused reusable bags at home, Udaya decided to come up with a product that makes reusability and sustainability easy for everyone. This idea marked the creation of the LoopTas bag.
What makes a LoopTas bag different from a normal shopping bag is the addition of an NFC chip on every product. Customers pay a small deposit, get a LoopTas bag, scan the tag with their mobile phones, and reuse it countless times. Every time the consumers reuse their LoopTas bag, they can scan the chip and receive points. Customers can use these points to exchange for discounts on sustainable products or donate to environmental organisations.
LoopTas has partnered with Plastic Bank, a social enterprise based in Canada. The plastic waste gathered through the scheme of Plastic Bank by coastal communities in Indonesia is transformed into durable, 100% made-from-recycled-material shopping bags. That is how the startup commits to sustainability and circularity in every step of its business.
Until now, LoopTas has launched pilots with several supermarkets in Enschede, including Dirk van den Broek, Coop, AnaMarket, and Sam’s Toko.
After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kalpataru Institute of Technology in India, Udaya went to the University of Twente for his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Design. His idea for LoopTas was conceived when he was in India. However, not until seeing a greater product-market fit in the Netherlands did he decide to start LoopTas.
“Everyone can see two types of people: citizens and consumers. Every citizen wants to save the world and stay sustainable, but once he enters a store, he becomes a consumer who wants to save money.
Through our IoT infrastructure, we stimulate reuse and loyalty conjointly. LoopTas is our product from the infrastructure, we want to expand to other reusable products and help consumers to reuse more and reduce waste.”
Udaya Vasepalli, the Founder and CEO at LoopTas.
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