CEAR in 2024 processed 12 million pounds of electronics at its electronics recycling facility in the Sacramento area. | Photo courtesy CEAR
Longtime e-scrap and IT asset disposition firm CEAR has received an investment from a Texas-based capital firm, priming the ITAD operation for future growth.
Southlake, Texas-based Ancor Capital Partners on April 2 announced its investment in California Electronic Asset Recovery, a Sacramento-area provider of ITAD and shredding services widely known as CEAR. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to receive the investment from Ancor, as it provides us with the resources and support to expand and grow our business,” said Paul Gao, CEO of CEAR, in a written statement to E-Scrap News. “This partnership will enable us to continue innovating and extend our footprint.”
In a phone interview, George Bennett, CEAR’s business development manager, said the ITAD firm’s position in the industry, particularly as a smaller company that is geared up to expand, made CEAR a solid fit for Ancor’s investment strategy. CEAR also produces environmental, social, governance, or ESG, reports for clients, which was another draw.
“They’re interested in sustainable businesses,” he said. “They’re interested in ESG reporting and how we can help provide that for some of our customers.”
CEAR is a company of about 60 employees and a single location in Sacramento. It provides all manner of ITAD services, including manual dismantling, refurbishment and resale and data destruction. It also operates an e-scrap shredder for commodity recovery. In 2024, the company processed 12 million pounds of inbound electronics.
Bennett said the company hopes that with the new partnership, CEAR will be able to get into additional areas of material recovery. The company is interested in bringing in new equipment “for either more material or more output, so different kinds of recycled output material,” Bennett said. He identified recovering higher concentrations of rare earth elements, solar panels and batteries as a few examples of streams the company wants to explore.
The company has some large customers that would benefit logistically from the ITAD firm having additional locations, Bennett noted, although there are no specific facility announcements to share just yet.
“All of these ideas are how we want to expand,” he said.
CEAR is Ancor’s only electronics recycling portfolio company, but the firm has other holdings in the materials recovery space, including textile recycling firm Mid-West Textile.