Bower raised $4.7 million in a funding round led by Blq Invest, joined by Almi Invest, Verdane Foundation and Orkla Ventures

Bower, a Stockholm, Sweden-based mobile solution developer for recycle packaging, secured $4.7 million in an equity fundraising round, dubbed late seed.

The money was raised from investors led by Blq Invest, and joined by existing shareholders, Almi Invest via its GreenTech program, Orkla Ventures and Verdane Capital (through the Verdane Foundation).

The proceeds will be used for global expansion plans, with the UK its next target market.

Bower, founded as PantaPå in 2016 by brother and sister Berfin Mert and CEO Suwar Mert, built a mobile app via which users can scan barcodes of packaging materials at a recycling station and are rewarded directly with money and coupons. The app was released in August 2019 and has 300,000 users in the Nordic region recycling more than 1.4 million packages every month. Customers include global companies such as Mondelez, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Orkla with a variety of brands.

Bower previously raised about $1 million in 2020.