On Monday, Denver-based AMP announced the closing of its $55 million Series B funding round, which was led by investor XN. This comes over a year after the company raised its $16 million Series A.
There’s a lot of valuable material that ends up in landfills, over $200 billion worth, according to AMP. This material includes items like rare metals, old electronics, plastic and more. A lot of this material can be recycled, but unfortunately that doesn’t always happen.
Operating a recycling plant can be cost- and labor-intensive, and as a result many recyclable materials go unsalvaged. It doesn’t make sense to recover $0.50 worth of aluminum if doing so will cost $1.
While throwing these materials out provides a cheaper solution in the short term, there’s an environmental cost that needs to be factored in as well. Plastics and metals can take centuries to degrade, contributing to the planet’s overflowing landfill problem. On top of that, studies have shown that landfills can have negative effects on the health of people who live nearby.
To address this, AMP aims to make operating a waste management facility cheaper — helping businesses that operate these plants save money, and saving the planet as well.
The company has created an automated robotic system that uses AI and computer vision to sort through waste. Its machines can identify specific materials based on their shape, color, opacity, size, consumer brand and more. Once deployed in a sorting facility, the robots are able to work independently, thus reducing the need for human sorters.
In late 2020, AMP signed a contract with Waste Connections Inc., bringing 24 of the company’s robotic systems to waste facilities. This is AMP biggest contract to date, adding to a portfolio of hundreds of robotic deployments that already span three continents and more than 20 states.
AMP plans to use its new funding to scale up its operations in order to grow to meet demand. The company also plans to invest this new funding in new AI applications.
In addition, the money will also help the company as it expands its work with consumer packaged goods. Last month, AMP detailed its work with Keurig Dr Pepper to help identify and sort used K-Cups that ends up at waste facilities. These K-Cups are recyclable and can be reused by Keurig Dr Pepper to reduce costs and create a more sustainable business. However, none of that matters if they just end up in landfills.
“We are blessed with an outstanding group of new investors, a mission-driven team, and amazing customers,” AMP CEO Matanya Horowitz said in a statement. “We are putting this next round of investment to work immediately to create novel technology for the waste industry and meaningfully contribute to reducing society’s impact on the environment.”
