Meet Phobio, the Atlanta startup tackling e-waste with a device trade-in software

By Erin Schilling - Technology Reporter/ Atlanta Inno

Atlanta startup Phobio wants to give consumer electronics a second life.  

Maybe even a third, fourth or fifth life, said CEO Stephen Wakeling. 

Phobio produces an electronics trade-in software, which enables companies to take back old electronics such as phones, tablets and laptops and resell them in other markets. It also handles any repairs.

Phobio’s revenue doubled in 2020 because the pandemic meant more people needed personal electronics to work remotely. As the economy worsened, they sought refurbished devices or traded in old devices to save money.  

Phobio, a bootstrapped company with about 100 employees, works with e-commerce brands and retailers such as Apple, Amazon Canada, Costco and Hyperion Partners to power their trade-in programs. Phobio also handles trade-ins for employee devices for companies such as Chick-fil-A and Hyatt Regency.  

After the year of growth, Phobio is expanding into the consumer drone market by partnering with retailer Drone Nerds.

Phobio also wants to help schools with trading in their old devices, Wakeling said. Instead of the devices collecting dust, trading in laptops or computers gives schools more buying power when upgrading devices. The old equipment is then usually sold overseas on secondary markets or distributed to consumers as refurbished devices.  

"We’re trying to bring them mass-trading programs to feel like they’re engaging with a transparent, brand-approved solution,” Wakeling said. 

He is also passionate about reducing e-waste and providing greater accessibility to electronics.  

"Our hope is that we can eke out as much valuable life from every device we can,” Wakeling said.  

Phobio started in 2010, around the time of the first iPhone. The technology inspired Wakeling because it wasn’t meant to last a year or two only to get thrown away. With software updates, an old iPhone could continue working for much longer than previous phones. 

Growing up a Boy Scout in Northern California, Wakeling always had an interest in helping the environment. He moved to Atlanta around the time he started Phobio, in part because of the city’s famous tree canopy.  

“There’s a lot of trees,” Wakeling said. “The airport is fantastic, and you had the best universities. It seemed there was kind of a magic combination.”