AMP Robotics Raises $91M to Expand AI-Powered Waste Sorting Systems

AMP Robotics Corp., an AI and robotics company based in Colorado, just raised $91 million in the Series D round to further accelerate the deployment of its AMP ONE systems, advanced technology using AI and robotics to sort MSW, currently an essential tool that makes recycling processes more effective. This new investment will enable AMP to increase the scale of its business, providing benefits to waste management companies and municipalities in lower sorting costs, more captured recyclable material, and an extended landfill life.

Founder at AMP Robotics, Matanya Horowitz says that the recycling rate of America has plateaued, notwithstanding clear economic and environmental value provided through recycling. AMP will look at how to better the problem as funding will ensure that its approaches towards waste management become cost-efficient and hence improve the overall recycling system.

Started back in 2014, AMP has managed to set a base from AI-in-waste-management. So, it has sorted more than 2.5 million tons of recyclables and recognized more than 150 billion items by means of its AI platform. Currently, the company operates over 400 AI systems throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, thus developing a good presence on the global scale. AMP currently has three full-scale facilities with fully integrated AI-driven sortation processes that have proved modernizing the economics of resource recovery in the waste management industry.

AMP ONE is one of AMP’s flagship solutions for waste sorting. This system utilizes deep learning algorithms to train its AI models by processing millions of images of waste materials. The software uses pattern recognition to identify various materials based on characteristics such as color, shape, texture, and size. By doing so, AMP’s technology helps separate recyclable materials from contaminants in real time, optimizing the sorting process. The company’s AI is continually learning from the data it processes, increasing the efficiency of the system.

When AMP Robotics first began its technology, the company developed sorting robots that could be quickly integrated into existing recycling facilities. Gradually, the company developed AMP ONE, an all-in-one solution, which allows for nearly fully automated waste sorting. These facilities can recover commodities much more safely and at lower cost than conventional methods and have added sorting of municipal solid waste, a complex process previously accessible to very few recycling operations. The company is now offering an end-to-end system that can capture significant value from materials that would otherwise go into landfills or incinerators.

AMP Robotics has proven the utility of its technology through several successful deployments. For instance, Portsmouth, Virginia-based Recycling and Disposal Solutions has processed 150 tons per day of local waste using more than 90% uptime with AMP’s systems. In a separate agreement last month, the company integrated AMP’s AI sorting technology into one of Waste Connections’ single-stream recycling facilities in Colorado, according to one of the largest waste management companies in the U.S., Waste Connections Inc.

Besides the $91 million of Series D funding, AMP Robotics is expanding its leadership team. The company has appointed Tim Stuart, former COO of Republic Services Inc., as its new CEO. As part of this leadership transition, Matanya Horowitz is stepping down from his position as CEO to become the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), where he will remain focused on driving innovation in AMP’s AI technology.

This funding was Series D, with Congruent Ventures leading, and then current investors participated in Sequoia Capital, XN, Blue Earth Capital, and Liberty Mutual Investments and new ones joining them, such as the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), Wellington Management, Range Ventures, and Tao Capital Partners. According to Abe Yokell, co-founder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures, “AMP’s AI-based sortation systems bring tremendous environmental and economic benefits by allowing communities to recover valuable commodities from waste without increasing their reliance on landfills.”

A successful Series D funding will provide AMP Robotics with much-needed resources to scale its technology, increase deployment, and encourage broader industry adoption. It helps not only improve the profitability of the business in waste management but also cuts greenhouse gas emissions, which happens by diverting billions of tons of recyclable material away from landfills and incinerators. As the challenges faced by the waste and recycling industry continue to rise, AMP’s AI-based solutions have positioned the company at a crucial point in the resource recovery transformation.

AMP’s mission is to change the waste and recycling landscape with smarter, more efficient solutions to manage the world’s waste. As AMP Robotics increases its investments and continues to refine its AI technology, it is well-positioned to take a central place in tackling those worldwide, sustainable-waste-management and resource-recovery challenges.