Product-as-a-Service Question Kit

The circular economy offers great business opportunities. In 2015 McKinsey and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that it could even generate a net economic benefit of 1.8 trillion in Europe by 2030. But, the circular economy can never lift off without businesses putting the concept into action. And with innovative circular companies like Product-as-a-Service Models (PaaS) struggle to find financing, this remains a big barrier. On the other hand, we see that many financiers are starting to set ambitious targets to grow their circular portfolio. but to this day the PaaS love story between entrepreneurs and financiers has been lost in translation.

The main issue is a lack of knowledge on both sides and the absence of a financial narrative for Product-as-a-Service models that fit within the risk parameters of financiers. More concretely, PaaS models are, sometimes falsely, perceived as risky due to the way businesses present themselves and how financiers assess risk.

To close the knowledge gap between circular entrepreneurs and financiers, Circle Economy has developed the PaaS Question Kit: A comprehensive guide to PaaS business models. The Kit leads both entrepreneurs and financiers through a series of questions they need to ask themselves before starting their conversation. The ultimate goal of the PaaS Question Kit is to remove the knowledge barrier and open up more financing opportunities for circular companies.