The Plastic Bank

David Katz and Shaun Frankson, both of North Vancouver, BC, asked for $500,000 for 5% equity in The Plastic Bank, a social enterprise that sets up collection centres in impoverished areas, such as Haiti, where people can exchange collected ocean-bound plastic for cash or goods like cooking fuel and cell phone minutes. The company has about 30 collection centres in Haiti, buys plastic at 15 US cents a pound and sells it to large corporate customers at about 60 to 65 cents a pound, and is currently collecting around three million pounds of plastic a month. The company is pre-revenue, has spent about $2.5 million to date on wages, travel and operations, and says it is pursuing purchase orders it hopes will total $10 million to $20 million within the next year.

The Dragons pressed for direct answers on revenue and were unsatisfied with a pre-revenue, high cash-burn model at a $10 million valuation. Jim Treliving called the valuation ridiculous and went out first, followed by Manjit Minhas, who questioned the spending without revenue. Michele Romanow and Michael Wekerle both said capital efficiency and profitability needed to come before a social mission, and Joe Mimran also withdrew from the conversation amid a heated exchange. No deal was made.

We haven’t confirmed whether The Plastic Bank is still operating.