If discipline and consistency built a cricketing career, Sachin Tendulkar believes the same values can build a cleaner India. The cricket icon has joined Recykal — India’s leading technology platform for waste management and the circular economy — as a strategic investor, extending the company’s recently closed USD 23 million bridge round. The association pairs one of India’s most trusted sporting icons with the country’s pioneering circular economy platform around a shared conviction: that India’s waste challenge is, at its core, a challenge of behavioural change — one Recykal aims to drive across a billion people.
Talking about the association, Sachin Tendulkar, strategic investor, Recykal, said, “Throughout my career, I’ve learnt that lasting success is built on discipline and consistent efforts, however big or small. The same is true for building a cleaner India. What drew me to Recykal was seeing how technology was being used to solve an everyday problem. Recykal’s mission to use technology to drive behavioural change across 1 billion people is what really connected with me, and I hope together we can encourage more people to make responsible choices every day.”
As the strategic investor, Tendulkar will help champion a nationwide movement to make responsible waste behaviour an everyday habit, carrying forward the spirit of Swachh Bharat into its next chapter. With the association with Tendulkar, Recykal aspires to make returning waste, recycling responsibly and participating in the circular economy second nature for every Indian.
Speaking on the partnership, Abhay Deshpande, CEO & Co-Founder, Recykal, said, “Recykal was built on a simple conviction that the circular economy is fundamentally a technology problem. Deposit Return Systems are perhaps the clearest expression of this thesis, bringing together technology, logistics and behavioural change to transform how packaging waste is recovered. To have Sachin join us as a strategic investor is incredibly meaningful. For decades, he has inspired millions of Indians through his discipline, integrity and ability to unite people around a common purpose. Together, we hope to inspire a movement where doing the right thing for the environment becomes an everyday habit.”
Earlier in June 2026, Recykal closed its USD 23 million bridge round, comprising a mix of primary and secondary capital from existing investors and select new family offices. The capital is being deployed to strengthen Recykal’s technology platform and Open Marketplace, scale its Deposit Return System (DRS) to drive behavioural change in waste management, and support the company’s international expansion. Tendulkar’s investment extends this round, further aligning Recykal’s long-term vision with its public mission.
