Recycling-focused AI and robotics company Glacier announced that it has raised $16 million in a Series A funding round, with proceeds aimed at to accelerate deployment robots which enable more materials to be recycled, avoiding waste, and helping reduce emissions.

Co-founded in 2019 by Rebecca Hu and Areeb Malik, San Francisco-based Glacier provides solutions aimed at improving sorting and recycling rates, to address issues that hold back many recyclable materials from entering the recycling stream. The company uses AI-powered robots to automate the sorting of recyclables and collect real-time data on recycling streams for recycling companies and consumer brands. The technology replaces cumbersome recycling equipment with a robot that occupies the same footprint as a person and can be installed without heavy machinery or facility downtime.

According to Glacier, the company’s robot can identify and sort over 30 types of materials at 45 items per minute, occupies the same footprint as a person, and can be installed without heavy machinery or facility downtime. The system costs as little as half as much as conventional recycling systems, and provides critical data insights to recyclers to improve real-time operational efficiency, Glacier added.

In 2024, the firm raised $7.7 million in a round led by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and New Enterprise Associates. The company said that the new capital will be used to support the acceleration of its nationwide deployment of AI recycling robots, expansion of its team, and continued innovation in product development.

Rebecca Hu-Thrams, CEO and co-founder of Glacier, said:

“This milestone funding round comes at a pivotal moment in our journey. After a year of rapid growth and successful deployments across major markets, we’re now positioned to scale our technology even faster. Glacier has the opportunity to meaningfully strengthen U.S. recycling infrastructure, and on-shore critical manufacturing capabilities, create more skilled jobs, and develop a specialized workforce trained in advanced material recovery. Our goal is to not only help address crucial environmental challenges but also build our nation’s economic resilience in a resource-constrained global market.”

The new funding round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), with participation from existing investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), AlleyCorp, Overture Climate VC, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and VSC Ventures. New investors include Elysium, Overlap Holdings, Cox Exponential, Alumni Ventures, One Small Planet, and Working Capital Fund.

Sasha Brown, Partner at EIF, said:

“With nearly 80% of residential recyclables not recycled, the U.S. is simultaneously depleting natural resources, increasing carbon emissions, and failing to meet growing industry demand for recycled materials. We urgently need innovative solutions to process and recover valuable, recycled resources more efficiently. Glacier’s purpose-built AI solves critical challenges in the recycling industry with a practical, affordable approach. The company’s ability to deploy quickly – without disrupting existing operations – combined with its impressive growth trajectory, makes Glacier precisely the kind of technology and team we’re proud to support.”