Amp Robotics

Where some people see trash, Amp Robotics sees gold. The startup’s founder and CEO, Matanya Horowitz, aims to build a big business in the global waste management market, which the company estimates amounts to $500 billion annually. The hope is that the company’s artificial intelligence technologies will modernize an old-school recycling industry that’s far from efficient. Amp Robotics estimates that less than 10% of trash that could be recycled is actually being recycled, due to the cost of sorting and shipping the waste. That’s where deep learning and computer vision can play a role. Amp Robotics uses those technologies to supercharge more rudimentary robotic systems so that they can identify the different shapes, colors, and sizes of various recyclable materials. The tech enables robotic arms to recognize, pick, and sort objects like Pepsi cans, waters bottles, and cereal boxes so that those items get recycled as opposed to trashed. Amp Robotics said it has deployed over 80 of its robotic systems around the world, primarily in North America, Asia and Europe. The startup raised $16 million in its most recent funding round.