Glacier is an AI and robotics startup that is assisting the recycling sector in its efforts to create a waste-free society. Glacier was recently invested in by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund as part of our continuous commitment to promote female-led businesses and entrepreneurs in the climate tech space. Areeb Malik and Rebecca Hu co-founded Glacier, a company that employs AI-powered robots to automate recyclables sorting and gather real-time data on recycling streams for consumer brands and recycling companies. In an effort to close the funding gap for women in climate tech, Amazon’s corporate venture capital fund, The Climate Pledge Fund, first announced its $53 million Female Founder Initiative in 2022. The fund invests in climate tech companies to help accelerate Amazon’s path to meet the commitments of The Climate Pledge. Glacier is the second business to receive funding from The Climate Pledge Fund under the leadership of a female CEO.
Glacier was created by Hu and Malik in an effort to address the climate catastrophe. “After researching a variety of climate solutions, we discovered that applying novel advances in AI and robotic automation to help the recycling industry run more efficiently is a powerful way to reduce waste, which has a direct link to reducing carbon emissions,” said Hu.
Even though recycling has a lot of potential to reduce global warming, only 21% of household recyclables are recycled in the United States today, frequently as a result of inadequate infrastructure for recycling. “In the United States alone, almost 70 million tons of recycling are processed each year. Even though this is already a huge project, Malik stated, “We can recover so much more material if we develop accessible automation processes and then scale them across our nation’s recycling infrastructure.” “Glacier is acting in this manner.” In order to help keep precious commodities like metals and plastics out of landfills and the ocean, Glacier’s robots increase sorting and recycling rates.
Two key technologies are combined in Glacier’s approach to recycling innovation. Glacier’s in-house artificial intelligence model can instantly recognize over thirty different recyclable material types, ranging from as wide as PET plastic to as specific as a toothpaste tube. The AI and Glacier’s unique robotic design work together to provide reliable recyclable sorting power at an affordable deployment cost.
Glacier’s sorting robots are not the only thing that could have an impact on the circular economy. “We’re constantly looking for ways to improve recycling, and developing robots is just the first step,” said Malik. Glacier’s AI is generating a recycling data set to help recycling facilities and brands make better-informed decisions. “Our recycling AI is a powerful tool for everyone in the circular economy, and it couldn’t come at a more important time,” said Hu. “As we see mounting legislative, economic, and social pressure to recycle better, brands are using our data to measure and improve how their packaging is being recycled, while recycling facilities are using our data to improve their operations and rescue more recyclables from landfill. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with a circular economy leader like Amazon so that we can accelerate our mission to end waste.”
The investor in Glacier was led by Phoebe Wang, an investment partner of The Climate Pledge Fund. Luna Yu, the first female CEO to receive funding from the Female Founder Initiative, launched Genecis, a bioplastics company that Wang handled The Climate Pledge Fund’s investment in last year. “We’ve made significant progress, but women still face hidden barriers and an invisible glass ceiling, especially in the startup and venture capital space,” said Wang. “We must invest in women like Rebecca who are pioneering innovative technology to address the climate crisis. Our goal is to promote greater support for these female tech founders and help them succeed.” By funding companies like Glacier and Genecis, Amazon hopes to send a clear signal to the venture industry and encourage broader financial support for more female climate-tech founders.