Recycleye raises $17M in Series A funding

Recycleye, a London-based provider of waste and recycling technologies, has raised $17 million in Series A funding for its artificial intelligence (AI) technology led by DCVC, a deep-tech venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California.

Recycleye uses AI-powered robotics to help recycling facilities lower the cost of sorting materials. The technology can also deliver essential data to material recovery facility operators. The technology combines computer vision and robotics to help pick materials. Using proprietary AI models, the robot identifies waste and is trained to pick an unlimited number of material classes, such as plastics, aluminum, paper and cardboard. Additionally, Recycleye says its technology can scan and identify materials at 60 frames per second.

“At FCC, we believe in being forward-thinking, so investing in the latest waste sorting technology was an obvious choice,” says Rory Brien, general manager of FCC for its re3 facility in Reading, England. “Recycleye Robotics is delivering the consistent purity in sorted material and reliable data that we need to run an effective facility.”

RELATED: Recycleye to showcase AI-powered robotics at IFAT

According to Recycleye, the new investment will be used to improve Recycleye’s sorting ability. DCVC led the funding round, with existing investors increasing their stakes. According to Recycleye, its Promus Ventures, Playfair Capital, MMC Ventures, Creator Fund and Atypical investors were joined by new Madrid-based investors Seaya Andromeda. The Series A funding follows $5 million that had previously been raised in 2021 and $2.6 million that was raised to date in European and U.K. government innovation funding.

Recycleye was co-founded in 2019 by CEO Victor Dewulf and Chief Technology Officer Peter Hedley, and its technology is installed in facilities in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Australia, the U.S. and France, with multiple robot orders confirmed in Italy and Belgium.

“At FCC, we believe in being forward-thinking, so investing in the latest waste sorting technology was an obvious choice,” says Rory Brien, general manager of FCC for its re3 facility in Reading, England. “Recycleye Robotics is delivering the consistent purity in sorted material and reliable data that we need to run an effective facility.”

Dewulf says he sees opportunities to advance AI sorting technology for the global waste management sector.

“With this investment, we can scale our operations to target a market which we estimate to have a [strategic asset management] of $114 billion globally today, but with the potential to increase by 14 times to $1.6 trillion when the cost of sorting is reduced,” he says.