Mohammad Sleiman's Playbook For Sustainable Scaling

As businesses shift from traditional linear models to more circular, sustainable systems, startups in the greentech space are gaining ground— but scaling in this space does come with unique challenges.

Few know this better than Mohammad Sleiman, the founder and CEO of the UAE-born greentech startup Cartlow, which, in March, was acquired by the US-based Basatne, a global leader in sustainable trade solutions and reverse logistics.

Sleiman, who has now been appointed the CEO of Basatne Group MENA, had launched Cartlow after spotting a critical gap in how the region handled returns, refurbished products, and electronic waste.

“With over 20 years of experience across international business, e-commerce, and sustainability, including leadership roles at Western Union, Hewlett Packard, Souq.com, and Amazon, I witnessed a growing global gap as economies began shifting from linear models to recycling and now toward fully circular systems, driven by the vision of achieving net-zero goals,” Sleiman tells Inc. Arabia. “This transformation demands the evolution of technology to digitize and empower the circular economy, and that’s the opportunity Cartlow was built to capture.”

Armed thus with a mission to reduce e-waste, offer affordable alternatives, and enable businesses and consumers to make smarter, more sustainable choices, Cartlow has since emerged as a leader in the MENA region’s circular economy, and its acquisition by Basatne is only set to bolster the ecosystem at large. Here, Sleiman shares the five core principles that have guided his enteprise’s growth trajectory— suffice to say, these pointers are what every sustainable startup should keep in mind when scaling in the circular economy.

1. Build trust early through quality assurance and community education.

For startups focused on refurbished or reused goods, perception is everything. “The biggest challenge was shifting the consumer mindset,” Sleiman says. “In this region, ‘used’ or ‘refurbished’ products are often viewed as lower quality or risky, largely due to limited awareness of refurbished technology.” To combat this stigma, Sleiman’s team implemented a strict certification process for every product, and they also made sure that quality was front and center in all communications. “We also introduced buy-back and trade-in programs, incentivizing consumers to return their old devices for credit or discounts, which not only promoted recommerce but also positioned them as contributors to a more sustainable movement,” he shares.

Transparency was also key—Cartlow openly shared quality standards and processes across its digital platforms. Allowing customers to exchange old devices for discounts was a strategy that not only encouraged circular participation but also helped consumers feel they were making a sustainable impact. “Additionally, we invested in educating consumers about the environmental benefits of reducing e-waste through refurbished products,” Sleiman says. “Over time, as the market experienced the quality of our devices, demand for refurbished electronics began to rise, and we witnessed a shift in consumer behavior toward greater acceptance of sustainability and recommerce.” This behavioral shift didn’t happen overnight though—but Sleiman notes that building trust created a foundation for long-term growth.

2. Digitize operations end-to-end with the right technology.

Scaling a circular model requires more than just putting your platform online. It means embedding technology across the entire product lifecycle. “A fully integrated, tech-enabled circular economy uses technology to streamline every step of the process, from product sourcing and refurbishment to distribution and resale,” Sleiman explains.

That principle guided Cartlow’s early investment in data and automation tools. “Technology enables us to forecast demand, manage inventory efficiently, and reduce waste, all while maintaining high operational standards and product quality,” Sleiman says. Without this integration, efficiency breaks down—especially when reverse logistics and diagnostics are involved. For sustainable startups, digitization isn’t an add-on—it has to be built into the infrastructure.

3. Establish a closed-loop ecosystem beyond resale.

Sleiman highlights that while sustainable startups often begin with a resale platform, longterm impact requires building the full engine behind circularity. That means creating the infrastructure that supports not just commerce, but a broader, more integrated approach. “I founded Cartlow to bridge that gap by creating a greentech platform that connects all critical components of a circular ecosystem, B2C and B2B recommerce, software-asa-service (SaaS) solutions for reverse logistics integration, buyback and trade-in programs, diagnostics, and data wiping, while helping businesses evolve toward certified sustainable practices,” Sleiman explains. This full-stack model enabled Cartlow to serve both consumers and businesses—an advantage that allowed the platform to scale across sectors and categories.

4. Forge strategic partnerships to scale across borders.

Going global is often the tipping point for scaling, and for that to happen, it is essential to build strategic partnerships. Cartlow’s acquisition by Basatne was thus a strategic move to bring its circular model to a more mature, global market. “The acquisition provides Cartlow with the resources, operational scale, and market access needed to accelerate our mission,” Sleiman shares. Indeed, Basatne’s established footprint in North America also enables Cartlow to source high-quality inventory from developed markets and circulate it across emerging ones. “This makes our circular economy model more scalable, more global, and even more impactful in reducing environmental waste,” Sleiman says.

5. Align your model with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles and net-zero goals.

In a sector driven by long-term value, Sleiman believes that short-term wins can be a trap. He emphasizes that sustainability goals must be embedded into the business from the very beginning. For Cartlow, that alignment was the main core. “At Cartlow, each of these principles shaped our journey, allowing us to evolve from a marketplace into a full green-tech platform leading the circular economy transformation in the MENA region,” Sleiman notes.

For other startups walking the sustainability path, Cartlow’s model shows that success in the circular economy isn’t just about being green—it’s about being built for scale, trust, and long-term value from the ground up.

Pictured in the lead image is Mohammad Sleiman, the founder and CEO of the UAE-born greentech startup Cartlow, who has now been appointed the CEO of Basatne Group MENA. Courtesy of Basatne.

This article first appeared in the April/May 2025 issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.