Startup Series Episode 20: AMP Robotics
Reimagining recycling with AI and robotics
The audio to this episode is available wherever you get your podcasts. The pitch presentation and slides are exclusively available to My Climate Journey Members.
Between China and other South Eastern countries refusing to take low quality materials and COVID-19's impact, the recycling industry is suffering. AMP Robotics is working to change the way recycling facilities sort through material by using AI and robotics rather than manual labor while also providing better incentives to keep operating costs low. AMP projects automating manual sorting will increase efficiency by 75% and offset two manual sorters per shift. Robots and AI have a 99% sorting accuracy rate, a 90% recovery rate on useable material, and can double to picks-per-minute of manual labor. AMP is currently focused on single stream recycling facilities but is hoping to expand into demolition/construction material, electronic waste, composting and organic material, and automated shredding. They are operational in the U.S., parts of Europe, and Japan.
Founder, Matanya Horowitz, and I discuss his background and how AMP Robotics started. We dive into the controversies of recycling, the inefficiencies that AMP is solving and where the future of recycling is going. I really enjoyed talking with Matanya and learning about the problem AMP Robotics is trying to solve, their momentum and progress, and future plans.
Enjoy the show!
Synopsis
Mission: Enabling a world without waste using AI and robotics to economically reclaim raw materials for our global supply chain.
Team: Matanya Horowitz (Founder)
Product: Artificial Intelligence using computer vision to perceive and identify materials; AMP Cortex, high-speed intelligent robotics system; AMP Neuron, an AI platform that combines machine vision and deep learning to recognize objects in a mixed material stream.
Traction: Series A in November 2019 was $16 million; total funding is about $23 million currently.
Websites: AMP Robotics, LinkedIn
Jobs: Looking to fill various positions across divisions including Sales and Business Development, Research and Development, Operations, Marketing, and Software Engineering (careers page)