New Delhi, June 23 -- Nepra Resource Management Pvt Ltd is in talks to raise a fresh round of funding, as the loss-making waste management company looks to turn a corner under a new leadership team, VCCircle has learnt.

The Ahmedabad-headquartered company, which began operations in 2011 and is engaged in the collection, segregation, and processing of solid dry waste under the 'Let's Recycle' brand, is seeking to raise Rs 100-150 crore ($10.5-15.8 million).

The company intends to use the fresh capital to service its working capital requirements and scale up operations. The money will also help the company to make debt repayments. The transaction is likely to be finalised in the next two to three months, VCCircle has gathered.

The fundraising exercise comes after the company's founders stepped down from its board and its investors, which own a majority stake, appointed a new CEO and CFO to lead Nepra in late 2024.

Nepra is now led by CEO Deep Dholakia, who has previously worked with American chemicals companies such as Huntsman Corp and Cabot Corp, and CFO Darshan Bagadia, who has previously worked with Indian companies Arvind Ltd, Pidilite and Torrent Pharmaceuticals.

Nepra co-founders Sandeep Patel, Dhrumin Patel and Ravindra Patel have "exited", a person aware of the matter told VCCircle. The person didn't clarify whether the founders have exited only the board or have also divested their shareholding. Sandeep Patel was also the CEO of the company while Dhrumin Patel was chief operating officer and Ravindra Patel was the head of sales.

The three co-founders together held an 11.4% stake in the company, as per the Tracxn database. Four impact investors own a majority stake in the company-Circulate Capital owns 33.3%, Aavishkar holds 30.8% and Blue Earth 18.3%. Asha Impact owns most of the remaining stake.

Queries sent to the company, Circulate Capital, Aavishkaar Capital, Asha Ventures and Sandeep Patel did not elicit any response till the time of publishing this article. VCCircle could not reach Dhrumin Patel and Ravi Patel.

It couldn't be ascertained whether Nepra is reaching out to any new investors for the planned funding round or will rely on its existing backers.

The company has raised more than Rs 200 crore in equity capital from external investors since inception.

It raised seed funding from Aavishkaar Capital in 2013. Aavishkaar reinvested in the company over the following three years, putting in a total of around Rs 30 crore, according to VCCEdge data.

In 2018, Nepra raised Rs 44 crore in a Series B round from Aavishkaar and Asha Impact Fund. Two years later, it raised Rs 134 crore ($18 million) in its Series C round from Aavishkaar Capital and new investor Circulate Capital. Aavishkaar also made a partial exit as part of the Series C round. It made another partial exit in 2024 by selling part of its stake to Swiss impact investor Blue Earth Capital.

Revenue stagnation, losses

Nepra Resource's revenue has fallen since peaking at Rs 152.9 crore in 2021-22. This decline is due to the company discontinuing its PET bottle trading business in 2024, lower revenue from its extended producer responsibility (EPR) segment, and slower adoption of a new facility started at Sanand, Gujarat, in 2024.

In FY25, Nepra logged revenue of Rs 130.6 crore, almost unchanged from the previous year. For the first 10 months of the FY26 fiscal year, its revenue was Rs 99 crore, down from Rs 108 crore for the same period the year before, VCCircle has gathered. This indicates it could have logged revenue of around Rs 120 crore for the entire FY26, reflecting an year-on-year decline.

The company has been posting losses since FY21. Its net loss widened to almost Rs 54 crore in FY25 from Rs 34.3 crore the year before while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) loss expanded to Rs 16.6 crore in FY25 from a loss of Rs 5.7 crore in FY24, according to VCCEdge. Its operating loss was around Rs 8-9 crore in the first 10 months of FY26, VCCircle has gathered.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.