The most important piece of equipment in a modern recycling facility is not the million-dollar optical sorter or the towering baler. It is the human hand, picking through a river of fast-moving, sharp-edged waste. It is a job with high turnover, low accuracy, and a cost that makes the economics of recycling look like a losing proposition. EverestLabs.AI, a Fremont-based startup, is betting that a robotic arm, guided by an AI trained on millions of images of trash, can do it better, cheaper, and for longer than any person ever could.
Founded in 2018, EverestLabs sells a combination of hardware and software it calls RecycleOS. The system uses cameras mounted above conveyor belts to identify specific materials,aluminum cans, PET bottles, cardboard,and then directs robotic arms to pluck them from the waste stream. The company claims its arms can run at up to 80 picks per minute, a pace that would exhaust any human sorter [CNBC, Aug 2023]. For an industry plagued by labor shortages and razor-thin margins, the pitch is straightforward: replace a variable, rising cost with a fixed, depreciating asset.
The unit economics of a pick
The core of EverestLabs' bet is not just the robot, but the data platform that justifies its price tag. Every pick is logged, every misidentified item becomes a training example, and every shift generates a report on material composition, throughput, and contamination rates. This turns a capital expense into an intelligence engine. The company asserts its solution can reduce a facility's labor costs by 30-50% and increase material recovery by two to three times, leading to a payback period of as little as four months [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025]. These are the kind of numbers that get the attention of plant managers whose bonuses are tied to throughput and cost-per-ton.
Its wedge is a focus on retrofitting existing lines, a lower-capex alternative to the massive, centralized optical sorters that dominate new facility builds. "We're not asking you to rebuild your plant," seems to be the implicit message. The system is designed to slot in where human pickers stand today, a tactical upgrade rather than a strategic overhaul.
A leadership team built for industrial sales
While founder Sami Selcuk is the public face, the company has assembled a leadership bench with deep experience in selling complex hardware into industrial markets. This is a critical differentiator in a space where technology must survive dust, moisture, and physical abuse.
| Role | Name | Notable Background |
|---|---|---|
| Founder & CEO | Sami Selcuk | Entrepreneur and technologist with prior Silicon Valley experience [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025]. |
| VP of Engineering | Ernie Dunlevich | Background in robotics and industrial automation [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025]. |
| VP of Product | Vikram Jonnalagadda | Prior roles in enterprise software and industrial tech product management [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025]. |
| VP of Sales | Kevin Dunaway | Commercial leadership in industrial tech and waste/recycling markets [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025]. |
| Senior Vice President | Steve Costello | Over 30 years in sales, technology, and executive leadership [Waste Today, retrieved 2026]. |
This structure suggests a company moving beyond pure R&D and into the grind of enterprise sales cycles, where relationships and reliability matter as much as pick-rate specs.
Traction with a global waste giant
The most significant validation to date is the company's partnership with Veolia, one of the world's largest environmental services companies. Veolia has deployed EverestLabs' robotics in North America and, notably, in the UK, marking the startup's first international installation [PRNewswire, May 2024]. Landing a name like Veolia does more than add a revenue line; it serves as a reference case for other major waste managers who are inherently risk-averse. If it works for Veolia, the thinking goes, it can work for anyone.
Financially, EverestLabs has built a solid war chest. According to CB Insights, total funding stands at $28.37 million, cobbled together from a seed round led by Xplorer Capital, a $16.1 million Series A led by Translink Capital, and a $9.67 million Series B led by Benhamou Global Ventures [CB Insights, retrieved 2026] [Xplorer Capital, retrieved 2026]. Revenue was reported at $1 million in 2026 [RocketReach, retrieved 2026], a figure that, while modest, suggests the transition from pilot projects to commercial contracts is underway.
Where the wheels could come off
For all its promise, EverestLabs operates in a field with real and growing competition. The space for robotic sorting is no longer a greenfield. The company faces several credible challengers, each with a slightly different approach.
- AMP Robotics. The clear incumbent, with massive funding, thousands of deployed robots, and a deep focus on the AI vision system itself. Competing with AMP means going head-to-head on pure technological prowess and scale.
- Glacier. A newer entrant that also combines AI and robots but has garnered significant attention and funding for its focus on building a robust, low-maintenance system.
- ZenRobotics. A Finnish pioneer in the space, with a strong presence in Europe and a focus on heavy-duty construction and demolition waste sorting.
- Ishitva Robotic Systems & Greyparrot. Other competitors specializing in AI vision for waste, with Greyparrot notably building a powerful analytics platform that could compete with the data side of RecycleOS.
The risk is one of commoditization. If the core capability,identifying a soda can on a belt,becomes a standardized, purchasable module, the competitive edge shifts to cost, service, and software integration. EverestLabs' answer appears to be its integrated platform, RecycleOS, which aims to lock in customers with operational data and analytics that go beyond the pick.
The next twelve months
The immediate future for EverestLabs will be measured in deployments, not research papers. The next twelve months should see whether the Veolia deal is a one-off or the start of a pattern. Key milestones to watch will be announcements from other top-ten waste management firms, especially in North America. Another round of funding is plausible as the company scales manufacturing and its sales team to meet what it hopes will be rising demand.
On the back of an envelope, the unit economics tell a compelling story. If a single robotic work cell can replace two human sorters working in shifts, and each sorter costs a facility $50,000 per year in wages and benefits, the cell pays for itself in well under two years before even accounting for increased recovery value. That's a calculation any plant manager can understand. The real test for EverestLabs won't be beating a lab benchmark for accuracy. It will be beating the entrenched, messy, and deeply human process that has defined recycling for decades, and proving it can do so at a price that makes the robots the obvious choice.
Sources
- [CNBC, Aug 2023] EverestLabs using robotic arms and AI to make recycling more efficient | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/everestlabs-using-robotic-arms-and-ai-to-make-recycling-more-efficient.html
- [EverestLabs, retrieved 2025] EverestLabs - AI-Powered Recycling Robots | https://www.everestlabs.ai
- [PRNewswire, May 2024] Veolia Adds EverestLabs' AI-Powered Recycling Robotics in First International Deployment | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veolia-adds-everestlabs-ai-powered-recycling-robotics-in-first-international-deployment-302541595.html
- [CB Insights, retrieved 2026] EverestLabs - Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations | https://www.cbinsights.com/company/everest-labs
- [Xplorer Capital, retrieved 2026] EverestLabs raises $16.1M for AI that sorts recyclables - Xplorer Capital | https://xplorer.vc/everestlabs-raises-16-1m-for-ai-that-sorts-recyclables/
- [RocketReach, retrieved 2026] EverestLabs.AI Company Profile | https://rocketreach.co/everestlabs-ai-profile_b5c2c6f5f5e9b4b1
- [Waste Today, retrieved 2026] EverestLabs names senior vice president - Waste Today | https://www.wastetodaymagazine.com/news/everestlabs-recycleos-steve-costello-senior-vice-president/