Circulor awarded Technology Innovation Leader 2022
by Frost & Sullivan
This award recognizes that Circulor has introduced the best underlying technology for achieving remarkable product and customer success while driving future business value, and is a testament to the important role Circulor plays in enabling companies to build more resilient, sustainable, and responsible supply chains.
Circulor currently tracks critical battery materials, their GHG emissions, and ESG credentials from upstream to downstream customers, including Volvo Cars, Polestar, BHP, and Rock Tech Lithium, to name a few.
"We would like to thank Frost & Sullivan for recognizing our commitment to technological innovation as we strive to make the world’s most complex industrial supply chains more transparent and help prevent the exploitation of people and our planet.”
Doug Johnson-Poensgen, CEO Circulor
London 2 Feb, 2023
Download the award write-up
Best Practices Criteria for World-Class Performance
Frost & Sullivan applies a rigorous analytical process to evaluate multiple nominees for each award category before determining the final award recipient. The process involves a detailed evaluation of best practices criteria across two dimensions for each nominated company. Circulor excels in many of the criteria in the automotive supply chain management space.
A Sustainable and Responsible Digital Supply Chain Management Platform
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in London, England, Circulor is the leading provider of supply chain traceability for complex industrial supply chains. Circulor has extensive experience tracking minerals and materials for the automotive, extractive minerals and materials, plastics recycling, and construction industries. The company’s platform delivers visibility of the material flow, as well as sustainable and responsible sourcing information of an entire supply chain, from raw material to final product, and gives companies data-driven proof to build more resilient, secure, and responsible supply chains.
Meaningful Innovation
Circulor recognizes the complex economic and geopolitical tensions that strain supply chains, causing material and commodity shortages and bringing uncertainty to enterprises. Additionally, the growing sustainability demand is pushing organizations to explore solutions that enable them to meet sustainability goals and comply with regulations. Thus, Circulor leverages continuous client engagement and its growing number of supply chain participants who utilize the platform to illuminate complex industrial supply chains, offering innovative solutions that are unmatched by competitors.
Circulor’s proven and trusted supply chain traceability software enables businesses to fully track, analyze, and manage their supply chains, to improve the security, resilience, and sustainability of supply chains. Using blockchain technology, machine learning, and business logic, the software-as-a-service solution creates a reliable chain of custody of the physical flow of a material, and attaches environmental, social, © Frost & Sullivan 2023 The Growth Pipeline Company™ and governance data to the material it can be shared with customers in its final product. Further, the data enables enterprises to reduce risks and improve resiliency by making supply chain deviations visible. The company’s solution empowers enterprises with a robust supply chain picture, allowing more informed and better business decisions.
Circulor’s growing global team, with experts in London, Berlin, Singapore, Rwanda, South Africa, Luxembourg, Ireland, Australia, and the United States – unite around its collective mission to make positive change for people and the planet – bring diverse ideas, perspectives, and product innovation, continuously supporting its global customers.
A proven track record
Since its founding, Circulor’s client base ranges from large global original equipment manufacturers and multinational trading organizations to small sustainable mining companies and midstream supply chain participants. Since 2019, Circulor has supported Volvo Cars in pioneering electric vehicle (EV) supply chain transparency. Volvo Cars is the first automaker to use technology to trace cobalt, and has since expanded to lithium, nickel, and mica, continuously tracking the flow and transformation of materials.
Additionally, for the past few years, Circulor has supported Polestar to achieve its ambition to create a climate neutral car by 2030. Traceability is the key to this, and the work started with Circulor to track cobalt for the Polestar 2, before expanding to mica, lithium, and nickel.
Today, Circulor’s technology is available globally. The company coordinates sales through direct channels and consultancy firms, with teams in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Frost & Sullivan anticipates rapid, widespread technology adoption. The company’s first-mover status and proven software solution being delivered at scale with global brands strengthens its position on emerging opportunities.
Strategic Practices Positioning Circulor for Future Success
Circulor demonstrates high-growth potential. The company positions itself in the market, with an industry-leading product that provides tremendous value in high-demand sectors. As global sustainability requirements become increasingly stringent, clients continue to explore resources to help them achieve their sustainability initiatives, turning to Circulor to overcome challenges. With its customer-led strategy, the company consistently brings to market best-in-class capabilities for sourcing and tracing various materials, expanding the platform's functionalities to meet industry demand.
Circulor incorporates client feedback into its product roadmap to continuously innovate whilst maximizing short-term growth opportunities that provide a path to future revenues. The company boasts high customer satisfaction, resulting in zero client turnover. It reports 110% revenue growth since the end of 2021 and, with the global drive for sustainability, projects its growth to reach 140% to 150% by the end of 2022 and 300% by the end of 2023. Additionally, Circulor recently raised $25 million in a Series B funding round and plans to use the funds to continue to expand its product development team to continuously improve platform capabilities and deepen engagement in new industry opportunities. This latest round also helps the company to expand its presence in the North American market.
Given today’s landscape, Frost & Sullivan believes the company is in a prime position to increase its market share in this highly competitive supply chain management space. Operational Efficiency and Serving Multiple Applications Circulor strives to achieve operational efficiency with its dynamic customer lead and product teams. Customer-facing teams continuously engage with clients to assess their unique requirements for their industry's challenges, including evolving global Regulations. Additionally, product development teams maintain a keen eye on emerging technology and market trends to ensure the company brings cuttingedge solutions to its clients.
Clients leverage the Circulor platform and supply chain data across various business verticals, achieving broader organizational objectives. Whilst its vast expertise lies in tracking battery materials back to source, for both EVs and consumer electronics, it is seeing growth in tracking recycling supply chains as well as other renewal energy products. Circulor’s solution is comprehensive in its supply chain applications given it delivers visibility into material flows, sustainable and responsible sourcing, and embedded carbon emissions, while also supporting compliance with global Regulatory requirements.
Frost & Sullivan finds Circulor is well-positioned to drive sustainability across industry verticals with its robust digital supply chain traceability platform.
Conclusion
Technology is a critical success factor for automotive supply chain management. Yet, with many options available, market stakeholders need to leverage the most appropriate and best technology-based solutions to optimize their market impact. With its digital supply chain traceability platform, Circulor delivers visibility of the material flow, sustainable and responsible sourcing of an entire supply chain, from raw material to final product, providing companies data-driven proof to build more resilient, secure, and responsible supply chains. The company’s software-as-a-service solution creates a reliable chain of custody and attaches environmental, social, and governance data to the materials for advanced transparency that can be shared with customers in its final product. Circulor stands out from competitors based on its commitment to innovation and creativity while achieving commercial success. The company has global customers, ranging from large global original equipment manufacturers and multinational trading organizationsto small sustainable mining companies and midstream supply chain participants. For example, Volvo Cars and Polestar. As global sustainability requirements increase and industries explore resources to achieve sustainability initiatives, the company is well positioned in the market with an industry-leading product that provides tremendous value in high-demand sectors.
For its strong overall performance, Circulor is recognized with Frost & Sullivan’s 2022 European Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the automotive supply chain management industry.