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Recycling company EverestLabs raises $16 million and reports 200 percent growth

EverestLabs, developer of RecycleOSSM, which it claims is “the first AI-enabled operating system for material recycling facilities” (MRFs), has reported its key milestones accomplished in 2022.

Successes included rapid customer growth with key recycling facilities, such as North America’s largest commingled recycling facility, more than 200 percent deployment growth for the second year in a row, and the closing of Series A funding that will fuel expansion.

JD Ambati, founder and CEO of EverestLabs, says: “2022 was a year of tremendous growth for EverestLabs, thanks in large part to our customers, partners and employees.

“The demand we’re seeing to recover more materials, yet lowering costs is a clear sign that the recycling industry is at an inflection point.

“Our continuous growth shows that customers want to deploy AI and automation solutions because while they want to decarbonize packaging, which goes hand-in-hand with improving recovery rates, they must prioritize their bottom line.

“RecycleOS solves this dilemma. We’re thrilled to be at the helm and partnering with recycling facilities and various companies in the ecosystem to help them achieve better business outcomes with easy-to-use AI and robotics solutions.”

One of the company’s most notable 2022 achievements was rapid customer growth with the nation’s largest material recycling facility operators including Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR).

Tom Outerbridge, president of SMR, says: “In spring 2022, we installed our first EverestLabs’ robotics cells in our commingled recycling facility in Brooklyn, NY, which is the largest in North America.

“They have allowed us to realize labor cost savings and improve material recovery rates. We look forward to expanding our partnership in 2023 with the installation of additional EverestLabs units.”

In addition to SMR, EverestLabs expanded its customer base with marquee names, such as Recology, Alameda County Industries, Pioneer Recycling Services, Republic Services and more.

Also notable was more than 75 percent of existing sites added or expanded RecycleOS-powered solutions, demonstrating the trust and value EverestLabs brings to material recycling facilities.

With a proven return on investment and payback period of often less than three months based on labor savings and a 3 to 4x higher recovery rate than traditional manual sorting options, EverestLabs’ solutions rapidly enable material recycling facilities to recover significantly more recyclables. A better bottom-line for the material recycling facility is also better for the planet.

Highlights of milestones EverestLabs achieved in 2022:

Innovative technology and data saved recyclables from landfills

In 2022, EverestLabs identified more than 1.5 billion recyclable materials in the waste stream and prevented more than 35 million objects from being landfilled.

This is the equivalent of 25 million KWH of energy consumption and 300 metric tons of CO2 emissions prevented by recapturing 1300 tons of recyclable material.

While 35 million recyclables recovered in 2022 is significant for EverestLabs, there is a long way to go. Less than 30 percent of the 1 million plastic PET sold every minute is ever recycled. EverestLabs’ new $16.1 million financing will allow the company to increase deployments nationwide and recover more recyclables in material recycling facilities.

In December alone, EverestLabs’ AI and robotics recovered nearly 1 million recyclables from a single last chance line and generated tens of thousands of dollars in net new revenue for the material recycling facilities.

Exceeded industry-leading efficacy benchmarks

EverestLabs’ robots guarantee the industry’s highest pick success rates, at above 80 percent and often up to 95 percent for many recyclable materials.

Additionally, EverestLabs’ RecycleOS edge AI detects several hundred objects per frame in less than 12 milliseconds with greater than 95 percent accuracy across 31 distinct classes of recyclable materials. Combining the innovations in AI and robotics, recyclers can achieve a 3 to 4x better recovery than manual sorting.

Launched the first-ever 24/7 centralized recycling monitoring service

In Q3 2022, EverestLabs launched its Robot Operations Center (ROC) to track robot, AI and plant performance in recycling facilities and increase productivity without requiring additional material recycling facilities staff.

The ROC is a first-of-its-kind innovation for the recycling industry that enables EverestLabs’ customers to continuously operate their plants with minimal maintenance beyond standard procedures, such as changing suction cups.

As a result, material recycling facility operators generate more revenue as the robotics cells save time and costs when compared to other vendors in the market.

Company and workforce expansion

In addition to opening a development center in India focused on AI, MLOps and software development, EverestLabs doubled its employee headcount in 2022 in the US with key hires in engineering, sales, and customer success operations.

These hires included Chris Jodoin, COO and CFO; Apurba Pradhan, head of product; and Maribel Ramos, general manager of sales.

Raised $16.1 million in Series A funding

The funding will allow EverestLabs to scale RecycleOS, the only full-stack enterprise AI and robotics solution for material recycling facilities and packaging manufacturers that achieves greater recovery and the decarbonization of packaging.

The funding was led by Translink Capital and joined by NEC Orchestrating Future Fund and existing investors BGV, Sierra Ventures, Morado Ventures, and Xplorer Capital.

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