London-based Recycleye raises £1.2 million to 'turn rubbish back into resources'

Recycleye, a London-based intelligent waste management startup, has secured £1.2 million in seed funding. MMC Ventures and Playfair Capital led the round, with participation from leading funds Atypical Ventures, Creator Fund and eolos. The company has also received grants from InnovateUK and the European Union to develop a computer vision system that, combined with robotics, recovers useful materials from waste. The system is capable of detecting and classifying all items in waste streams, broken down by material, object and even brand  — and ultimately removes the need for manual waste pickers. “This new funding will allow us to fuel our relentless drive to spearhead the green revolution! If we are successful, your children will ask you what waste was,” says co-founder Victor Dewulf. Founded just one year ago, Recycleye has scaled from research to commercialisation with the help of Microsoft, after joining the corporation’s AI for Good Programme. The UK company has already deployed multiple systems on the French market and, in its home country, secured paid pilots with two out of the three largest waste management players in the UK. Currently part of Tech Nation’s Applied AI accelerator, the business is focussing on affordable robotics and will expand to wider Europe next year.

Photo: Recycleye's team