AMP Robotics, a Colorado-based startup using artificial intelligence to sort recyclables, on Monday announced the close of a $55 million round of Series B funding.
The funding will help the company grow internationally and improve its "vision system," which uses a combination of artificial intelligence and robotics to sort through everything from used-up batteries to crumpled cardboard.
"We solve a really meaningful problem in the recycling industry," Matanya Horowitz, CEO of AMP Robotics, told Cheddar. "A lot of this sorting is done by people today. It's a fairly hazardous and tedious job. A lot of recycling facilities are run understaffed. So our robots basically let them fully staff their facility and automate the sorting of material."
AMP claims its robots can execute between 80-100 picks per minute. A human picker, Horowitz explained, tops out at 60-80, but the average is closer to 40 as people get tired.
Yet the robots themselves aren't the crucial component, according to Horowitz. More important is the artificial intelligence system that guides them. The vision system can discern different objects based on their color, clarity, opacity, or even their chemical properties.
"So what we've done is built a vision system that lets us identify all this material you put in the trash or the recycling, even though it's smashed or folded or dirty," he said.
These vision systems allow recycling companies to maximize the number of items they actually sort, a potential boon for the difficult economics of the industry.
"What's key about what we do is we really lower the cost of sorting out material, and what that means is it can be profitable to sort out some materials that might not otherwise be sorted," he said.
Horowitz noted that this funding round came fairly easily and that he's confident venture capital will play an important role in tackling issues such as recycling and climate change.
"I'm quite bullish on venture capital's participation in different climate-related technologies, as well as the recycling space more specifically."
Updated January 11, 2021 at 8:25 a.m. ET to correct amount AMP Robotics raised in Series B funding. AMP Robotics raised $55 million, not $55 billion.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
