US-based waste recycling robot developer AMP Robotics obtained $16m yesterday in a series A round involving Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), an infrastructure-focused offshoot of technology conglomerate Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs.

Sequoia Capital led the round, which also included Congruent Ventures, the venture capital fund backed by University of California, private equity firm BV Investment Partners and investment and advisory platform Closed Loop Partners. SIP is also backed by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Founded in 2015 and previously called Cognitive Robotics, AMP markets a robotics system called AMP Cortex that automatically sorts waste for recycling, using computer vision and machine learning to identify the characteristics of each material.

The robot extracts data from images of the waste operation to inform insights into the client’s recycling workflow. It is able to handle municipal waste and e-waste, as well as debris from construction or demolition sites.

AMP’s technology is already fitted at multiple recycling plants in the US, and the latest funding will help scale its operations and build new artificial intelligence-driven recycling products.

Shaun Maguire, partner at Sequoia Capital, will join the company’s board of directors.

AMP previously received $3.2m of equity from undisclosed investors in late 2017, according to a regulatory filing, in what was likely a seed round. Sidewalk Labs, Congruent, BV and Closed Loop were all identified as existing shareholders.

Mike Delucia, principal at Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, said: “Our team is proud to have backed AMP since its very earliest stages in the seed round through Sidewalk Labs, and we are thrilled to make AMP Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners’ first investment, and to help AMP scale rapidly, because we believe that their proprietary technology will fundamentally transform the infrastructure of recycling to make it both more economic and more sustainable.”

– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.

US-based waste recycling robot developer AMP Robotics obtained $16m yesterday in a series A round involving Congruent Ventures, the venture capital fund backed by University of California.
Sequoia Capital led the round, which also included Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure-focused offshoot of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs that is also backed by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The series A transaction was rounded off by private equity firm BV Investment Partners and circular economy-focused investment and advisory platform Closed Loop Partners.
Founded in 2015 and previously called Cognitive Robotics, AMP markets a robotics system called AMP Cortex that automatically sorts waste for recycling, using computer vision and machine learning to identify the characteristics of each material.
The robot extracts data from images of the waste operation to inform insights into the client’s recycling workflow. It is able to handle municipal waste and e-waste, as well as debris from construction or demolition sites.
AMP’s technology is already fitted at multiple recycling plants in the US, and the latest funding will help scale its operations and build new artificial intelligence-driven recycling products.
Shaun Maguire, partner at Sequoia Capital, will join the company’s board of directors.
AMP previously received $3.2m of equity from undisclosed investors in late 2017, according to a regulatory filing, in what was likely a seed round. Congruent, Sidewalk, BV and Closed Loop were all identified as returning investors for the series A round.
Abe Yokell, managing partner at Congruent Ventures and an existing board member at AMP Robotics, said: “We believe that AMP’s artificial intelligence and robotics technology are poised to solve many of the central challenges of recycling, not only in the United States, but around the world.
“The opportunity for modernisation is high as the demand for recycled materials continues to climb from consumers and the growing circular economy.”
Mike Delucia, principal at Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, added: “Our team is proud to have backed AMP since its very earliest stages in the seed round through Sidewalk Labs, and we are thrilled to make AMP Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners’ first investment, and to help AMP scale rapidly, because we believe that their proprietary technology will fundamentally transform the infrastructure of recycling to make it both more economic and more sustainable.”
– Feature image courtesy of AMP Robotics