May Al-Karooni, CEO & Founder of Globechain, the ESG Reuse Marketplace is a visionary pioneer in the circular economy sector.

May Al-Karooni previously worked within the investment banking and asset management industry, fundraising monies for venture capital, property and hedge funds for the last 10 years totalling over £120 million in funds raised. 

In 2015 May set up Globechain after seeing a demand for a new solution for waste management. During an office relocation at an investment bank she worked at, she witnessed thousands of items discarded that were in good condition and that could have been given to nonprofits in need, but as there was no “easy” solution it ended up in landfill. With this vision she created her first website with only £800 to become commercial with a conscience.

May bootstrapped the company for four years to prove that her business was a viable and credible model as at the time, there was no market valuation for the circular economy yet. In 2018, she was one of the 1% of female founders to receive more than £500k (£750,000 in total) in VC investment as an ethnic minority, sole female founder.

Globechain is the largest ESG reuse marketplace that connects enterprises to non-profits, individuals and SMEs (Small, Medium Enterprises) to redistribute unneeded items, generating ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) data for its members. It provides three solutions; External reuse and Internal reuse and loaning, Globechain focuses on the construction, real estate, retail, hospitality and medical sectors and has over 10,000 members and operates in the UK, Spain, New York and Texas.

Globechain has diverted 61,700,000 kilos from landfill with items being re-distributed within the UK as well as abroad as far as Sierra Leone, Guinea, Kenya, Libya and the Ukraine providing savings of over £350,000,000 to charitable causes.

To date May has garnered recognition in esteemed publications like InspiringFifty UK, Cranfield’s University (FTSE350)- Women to watch and Forbes Next 1000 USA, and Forbes 100 Leading UK Environmentalists. These accolades reaffirm her status as a pioneer in the field, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in waste management and sustainability.