# Clew

Clew recycles nearly all of your food waste, in under 2 hours, from your countertop.

## Elevator pitch
Clew is a countertop food waste recycling appliance that can process nearly all residential food waste (including avocado pits and most bones) into a dried and consistent output in under 2 hours. This ensures no food waste ends in a landfill, which is a costly problem for municipalities and, more importantly, our environment. Clew's goal is to create consciousness between people, their resource use, and its effects on our environment.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/getaclew
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:86078
- Last updated: 2026-06-08T05:00:46Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-09T02:39:23Z

## Quick facts
- Clew has already proven at a very early stage that it can exceed the competition's performance.
- Our Proof of Concept was able to outperform the competitor on mass reduction by 13%.
- Clew is able to process food waste in under 2 hours vs. the competitor’s cycle time of 4-8 hours.
- Our unique shredding technology is able to process harder food waste such as avocado & mango pits and all chicken bones.
- Our engineering lab and ID studio have decades of experience launching products in the consumer product space.
- A circular economy is not a matter of if, but when, and Clew is designing for it.
- We plan to manufacture with closed loop materials and design for repair. No products should ever end in a landfill.
- Founders are an experiential designer and creative producer, having executed experiences for global brands.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:45306: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:45307: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
Why? Because food waste does not properly decompose in landfill.Sources: FoodPrint  |  EPA (a)  |  EPA (b)  |  NRDC  |  W&MUnfortunately, in the United States, we're sending it there from our own homes...Source: EPA...and those homes produce the most food waste in the supply chain.Source: ReFEDBut, it's not your fault if you don't know this!Groups like Project Drawdown are doing the work to bring to light how the world can change it’s habits to the point of “Drawdown,” the point in which greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stops climbing and starts declining. They state that reducing food waste across the entire supply chain clocks in as the most effective solution to climate change, as shown in this graph below. Source: Project DrawdownFood waste needs to be reduced on the farm and in industrial, consumer, municipal, and residential settings in order to be this impactful.People are getting a clue about this, and that's why they need to get a Clew.This is how people are currently getting clued in:Many of these options don’t support certain lifestyles or are unavailable.People need a solution that works with their small spaces, busy lifestyle, and/or are more user-friendly. (hint: this is where Clew comes into play)People are starting to buy food waste recyclers to solve their food waste problems.All food waste recyclers can do a majority if not all of the below.1. National GeographicClew plans to do all of that and more:Our fundamental concept is dehydration and grinding, in order to reduce mass and volume as much as possible, in as little time as possible!Food waste, the input, is placed into the Clew countertop appliance, the lid is shut, and it follows the process above to create the final dried fertilizer, called the output, in under 2 hours. And where does this output go exactly?Hey! That’s a great question, and, so you know, we’re not in the business of claiming more than we can chew (that’s the saying, right?). In our next phase, we will be exploring with experts how to maximize the output’s potential, but for now, check out what we do know!What we know: You can store the output in an old salsa jar or snack bag without it growing mold or smells before getting it to a collection site, utilize a platform like ShareWaste, or place it into your food waste municipal bin.What we want to explore: How to safely integrate the output into soil as a fertilizer or placed as a top layer for gardens/yards. Other food waste recyclers claim you can do this and then in the fine print provide many exceptions to the rule. Nothing worse to us would be that you lose your plant babies because your output wasn’t optimized quite right.Clew’s Design InspirationClew is planning to be designed with the modern, design-forward home in mind. Clew products will be fun to use, approachable, and stand out as a true icon in your kitchen.Our Proof of Concept Fact SheetProcesses at least 2.1 liters of food waste in less than 2 hoursHandles a wider variety of food waste scraps such as avocado pits, bones, and nut shells Reduces food waste mass by 80%Footprint is appropriate for a countertopWhat are our next steps for Clew’s development?We’re fundraising to take Clew from a “proof of concept” to an Alpha prototype, which will start to accomplish the below inefficiencies with our engineering and industrial design partners. Energy consumptionNoiseCleanabilityOutput sizeDesigning for easy repair and material reuse Form factor, size, materials, and user journeyAfter that phase, we will develop and fundraise towards a works-like and looks-like Beta Prototype. That prototype will resemble the final Clew, and will be used for in-home testing refinement.Meet the Crew building ClewA special thanks to our partner companies who have joined our mission at Clew. Through their guidance they have pushed Clew to be the most authentic version of itself. We look forward to our continued partnership with Ronin and in welcoming Box Clever to this next phase of design and development!Product Engineering Firm: Ronin Product Development LabsPast Projects: FitBit, GoPro, Square, Brava OvenDan Kennedy, Lead Mechanical Engineer & PartnerXander Bremer, Senior Mechanical Engineer & PartnerIndustrial Design Studio: Box CleverPast Projects: AWAY Suitcase, Caraway, Nebia, JulyBret Recor, Founder & Creative DirectorTimeline*These projections are not guaranteed.Some Words on AuthenticityThe regenerative movement is inundated with companies claiming “sustainable materials” and “bioplastics” to market more things people do not need. Authenticity is how Clew attracts and retains relationships with people as they start getting a clue about their environmental impact.Greenwashing must no longer be tolerated.We believe no product should ever end up in landfills.We plan to design with the Circular Economy at the forefront of our products.So what does that mean?The materials that Clew plans to be made with live in safe and potentially infinite circulations. During the design and manufacturing process we ensure that your Clew is already optimized as a material resource for its next life.While you’re here, meet our values!If you’ve made it this far, we want to thank you for getting to know us. We are astonished at the level of support and well wishes from friends, family, and others who believe in us and our mission. It goes so far and is tucked away in our hearts in times of need.For a quick background, Joyce and I met in 2017 at a creative agency in NYC, building out and designing Peloton’s first nationwide tour across the United States. A year later we launched 3 pop-up stores on the same day for FILA in Seoul, Tokyo, and New York City. These unique experiences have built such a strong working relationship and friendship between us, and has proven that we can tackle many a challenge thrown at us. We draw inspiration from our untraditional backgrounds and creative problem solving abilities when approaching this big freaking problem of food waste. We’re fueled by learning and knowledge and can truly say it’s been so fun getting to this point to bring our idea to a reality.We started this campaign because, like composting, we wanted to make fundraising more of an equitable process. By investing in Clew or passing along this campaign, you’re getting a say in the future world that you want to live in. We are proud our fundraising efforts are a mix of diverse outlets such as this crowdfunding campaign, investment from our partner orgs, and values-aligned angel investors who wish to be more than a paycheck.We always welcome feedback, concerns, well wishes, and questions as we hope this is just the beginning for Clew. We recognize that this is going to take a village, and we’re so honored to have you as a part of it.With the Utmost Gratitude,Joyce + SpencerWant to learn more? Check out our FAQs!

## FAQ
1. **Hi Spencer, Is there anyway I can talk to you? Future investor with some great ideas that will help the company expand tremendously. Thank you.**
   - Hi Grant! Sorry for the significant delay here. Please submit your info and ask via our website: https://www.getaclew.co/invest/#contact
2. **What does one receive for Investing? I didnt see a statement explaining what we get?**
   - Hi Krista! When you invest in Clew, you will receive a convertible note that, when we do a priced stock round, will convert into shares of Clew, so you will own a piece of our company. You can find more here: https://help.wefunder.com/#/contract/295251-convertible-note
3. **Hello, What is the launch timeline for your product? What retail price are you targeting?**
   - Hello! We are targeting late 2022 (a more in-depth timeline is on our fundraising page) and we’re still a little early for final pricing. We will be wrapping up R&D in October and will have a better idea then!
4. **Who do you consider your competitors?**
   - Hello! We view the following as our competitors: Tero, Lomi, and FoodCycler. Below is our response in our FAQs. Who competes with you? What do you understand that they don't? There are several other brands in this new market as people start looking for options to solve the problem of residential food waste. FoodCycler by Vitamix is the most well-known, as well as Tero, Lomi by Pela, and Kalea. Clew’s goal of a closed loop product shows that we understand our responsibility as a company to onl...
5. **Hi - what's the business plan? Great idea, but what's the plan to scale the commercial marketplace and therefore grow the company?**
   - Hey Roxanne. Thank you for the kind words. We are focused on a DTC offering as well as select B2B2C partnerships we've been exploring. More to come on this as we hone in on our final tech (6 weeks away!).

## Team
- Spencer Martin (CEO and Cofounder)
- Joyce Chiang (Head of Design and Cofounder)
- Azhar Meyer (Product Lead)
- [deleted user] (Technical Program Manager)

## Q&A
- Q: The fundraising campaign closes in three days and you are $300k short of your $610k goal. I believe that if you fail to make your goal, everyone gets their money back and none of us will be investors. Is that correct?
  - A: Hey Craig! We have made our minimum goal on our Form C (in the Details tab). When we created this campaign back in June, we were forecasting what budget ($600k) we would like to have to get through Research, Development, and Prototyping expenses. We've been able, with the help of our incredible design and engineering studios, to end this phase of work significantly under budget and with our product goals accomplished (a final design and final technical product). Participating in bootstrapping vs rocket fuel has been better for Clew, for our research, and for the environment. We are not hemorrhaging money in places which are not necessary for this phase of work, which is a common over-funded startup mistake. I hope that clarifies it! With all of that said, you absolutely have the ability to not go through your investment at any time. You'll need to check out the FAQs for WeFunder, but you're given X amount of days after the campaign closes to confirm your investment. With Gratitude, - Spencer
- Q: Any updates? It's been about a year.
- Q: Many urban cities require separation of compostable items and food scraps to be sorted and separately hauled. Other than the sheer mass, how does Clew contribute to solving a problem in areas that already separate scraps? If the Clew product could take the waste to a usable compost, even with a 2nd cycle in the machine, or formulaic addition of other things (water, 'vitamins', ash/soil extenders, etc.) then I would find it to be a much more desirable product concept.
- Q: 3. It looks like this is the teams first go around with leading/running early stage start ups but is has extensive experience in marketing and building products. Is there a board of directors with both early and later stage startup experience offering guidance to the team?
  - A: Hello again! Yes, it is Joyce and my 1st startup. I worked for ~2 years producing retreats and accelerators for environmental startups so do come to the table with some knowledge of the startup journey and resources available to them. Azhar and Mark have both worked at startups including medical device companies and ChargePoint. We are actively interviewing and scouting an advisory council as we speak as well as having conversations with values-aligned investors who may be interested in a board member role. Stay tuned! - Spencer
- Q: 1. When does Clew think it will secure a series financing round? 2. What is the anticipated IPO timeline?
  - A: Hi Olufemi! We do not have accurate answers for either of these questions at this time. We're still very focused on R&D and ensuring that we raise appropriately for the stage that we're at. After this equity crowdfunding campaign we will be continuing CN financing through to the manufacturing process. - Spencer
- Q: Hi - what's the business plan? Great idea, but what's the plan to scale the commercial marketplace and therefore grow the company?
  - A: Hey Roxanne. Thank you for the kind words. We are focused on a DTC offering as well as select B2B2C partnerships we've been exploring. More to come on this as we hone in on our final tech (6 weeks away!).
- Q: Who do you consider your competitors?
  - A: Hello! We view the following as our competitors: Tero, Lomi, and FoodCycler. Below is our response in our FAQs. Who competes with you? What do you understand that they don't? There are several other brands in this new market as people start looking for options to solve the problem of residential food waste. FoodCycler by Vitamix is the most well-known, as well as Tero, Lomi by Pela, and Kalea. Clew’s goal of a closed loop product shows that we understand our responsibility as a company to only put out something that can be a net positive for the world. We’re also the only ones able to handle harder food waste inputs like avocado pits, mango pits, and we’ve even processed an entire rotisserie chicken carcass. We’re going to be testing more extensive inputs in our next round.
- Q: Hello, What is the launch timeline for your product? What retail price are you targeting?
  - A: Hello! We are targeting late 2022 (a more in-depth timeline is on our fundraising page) and we’re still a little early for final pricing. We will be wrapping up R&D in October and will have a better idea then!
- Q: What does one receive for Investing? I didnt see a statement explaining what we get?
  - A: Hi Krista! When you invest in Clew, you will receive a convertible note that, when we do a priced stock round, will convert into shares of Clew, so you will own a piece of our company. You can find more here: https://help.wefunder.com/#/contract/295251-convertible-note
- Q: Hi Spencer, Is there anyway I can talk to you? Future investor with some great ideas that will help the company expand tremendously. Thank you.
  - A: Hi Grant! Sorry for the significant delay here. Please submit your info and ask via our website: https://www.getaclew.co/invest/#contact