US – US-based robotics company AMP Robotics has raised US$91 million in corporate equity in a Series C financing for a fleet of automated recycling robots.
The round was led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management and new and existing investors, including Blue Earth Capital, XN and Valor Equity Partners.
This new round of funding follows a US$55 million Series B financing led by XN in January 2021.
AMP will use the latest funding to scale its business operations while continuing its international expansion.
“Advancements in robotics and automation are accelerating the transformation of traditional infrastructure, and AMP is seeking to reshape the waste and recycling industries,” said Michael DeLucia, sector lead for Climate Investing, Wellington Management.
“By bringing digital intelligence to the recycling industry, AMP can sort waste streams and extract additional value beyond what is otherwise possible.”
The company says demand for robotics to retrofit existing recycling infrastructure continues to grow in demand for recycled commodities of all types.
AMP notes that the new capital will enhance manufacturing capacity to support a fleet of about 275 robots around the world and further its ongoing development of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled automation applications for recycling, like Amp Vortex.
The firm also has three production facilities in the Denver, Atlanta and Cleveland metropolitan areas; the funding will help drive further growth of the company’s secondary sortation business in the United States.
Matanya Horowitz, founder and CEO of Amp Robotics added: “Our focus from the outset has been our application of AI-powered automation to improve our global recycling system economically and sustainably.
“We’ve been fortunate to attract a passionate team, loyal customers and visionary investors along the way.
“With this new funding, we’ll accelerate our efforts to modernize and expand our recycling infrastructure, aiding society’s path to a circular economy.”
AMP hopes that its system can help solve a large issue in recycling. Of the estimated 44 million metric tons of plastic waste managed in the U.S. in 2019, only about 5% was recycled, according to a report from the Department of Energy.
Earlier this year, AMP Robotics announced that it was expanding its partnership with Evergreen, a producer of food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).
In March, the companies announced that Evergreen was deploying 15 of the company’s sorting systems.
Prior to the announcement, Evergreen had six robots deployed in its Clyde, Ohio facility, six in its Riverside, California facility, and will add three to its Albany, New York facility.
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