Vessel Redirects $83 Million in Excess Inventory Away from Landfills

More than 2,000 tons of material and $83 million worth of products have been diverted from landfills and incinerators by Vessel, the inventory-donation company formerly known as Simpli, which unveiled its new name this week.

The company, launched in 2022 and based in New York City, has built a platform that redirects expired and excess inventory to charitable organizations. Founder Teddy Raskin developed the model four years ago, and the rebrand accompanies a bigger-scale push for market share following a funding round last year.

What does the platform actually do?

Vessel's system lets customers screen more than 550,000 nonprofits across more than 160 million data points to find the best donation match. Customers can then track donations, with Vessel managing freight and logistics, and record the financial and sustainability documentation they need.

Raskin said the company screens recipient capacity before any shipment moves. "These charities, do they have a warehouse to store these products? How much can they absorb? … we have a built-in in-house layer to ingest this info, weigh it and give our team details to leverage it and do what they do," he said.

The service undercuts the cost of destruction, according to Raskin. "We can guarantee we beat destruction pricing all day," he said, adding that some categories, such as merchandise, demand more creativity to make donation economically viable.

Which material streams does Vessel handle?

The team currently focuses on medical products, personal care, and health and beauty goods. Since launch, it has helped brands including Estée Lauder and Smashbox donate products worth more than $83 million in total, keeping the more than 2,000 tons of material out of disposal.

"We want to focus on where we're doing really well right now," Raskin said.

One recipient described the downstream effect. "Through partners like Vessel, we're able to provide beauty and self-care products that encourage self-expression, celebrate individuality, and remind our girls that they deserve to feel confident and valued," said Millicen Perez, vice president of strategic partnerships and events at Girls Inc. "What makes this partnership even more meaningful is knowing that products that might otherwise go to waste are instead bringing joy to girls in our communities."

How big is the opportunity?

Raskin framed the market in blunt terms. "What do the biggest companies in the world do about waste? It's often overlooked because there's no solution at scale about waste," he said. "We asked, 'If we built a way to get this off your hands and donate it, would you allow us to do this?' They said of course they would, but there have to be a few conditions."

Simpli was built to meet those conditions, and Vessel will expand on them, Raskin said. He puts the addressable problem at $163 billion of products wasted each year. "If we can eat into 1% of that, that's a good start," he said.

"We've given our brands a way to donate inventory at scale in a way that's economically viable," he said.

What comes next?

Operations remain focused on North America, where Raskin holds logistics connections from prior work. He has arranged international deliveries before and calls expansion to other countries a logical step, provided companies abroad accept the model.

The near-term constraint is capacity, not demand: Raskin said Vessel is already hitting capacity limits for 2027. The company has also raised additional funds since the initial launch, positioning it for the fall-scale push.

"We have the ability to make a dent in senseless waste. This is such a great way for brands to showcase commitment to their communities," Raskin said. "Our customers are typically the best in the world at what they do. We tell them to focus on that, go grow. When you have products that oversell, are overproduced, soon to expire — as long as the integrity of the products is there, don't worry about it. We will find a place for it."

The metric to watch is whether the diverted-tonnage curve steepens as the rebranded platform scales.