RoadRunner Recycling — a startup in Downtown that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help businesses, schools and factories improve their recycling operations — has raised more than $28 million to double its team and expand into new markets.
The company announced a $28.6 million Series C funding round Tuesday led by New-York based Greycroft, a venture capital firm that has also backed companies like Venmo and Huffington Post, as well as e.ventures, a firm based in San Francisco.
Using the new funding, RoadRunner plans to double its 130-person team in Pittsburgh, according to CEO and co-founder Graham Rihn. The company is expanding from its office at PPG Place, Downtown to a second location at the K&L Gates Center.
RoadRunner, which already operates in 10 cities, also plans to roll out its product in 10 more this year, starting with Phoenix, Austin and San Diego.
“I started the company because it was clear to me that there was a need for businesses to have a better option to recycle and save money in the waste industry,” Mr. Rihn said. “Our main goal is to save that business money and recycle more.”
To do that, Mr. Rihn said RoadRunner customizes a recycling plan for each client. It starts by using machine learning to predict what materials different industries will generate. For example, a school’s waste stream is 40% paper and 66% food waste while 75% of a shopping mall’s waste is cardboard and paper.
Then, armed with those predictions and custom algorithms, RoadRunner matches each client with an efficient route to haul its recyclable waste.
“A hotel is a lot different than a school, which is a lot different than an office building,” Mr. Rihn said. “That’s the great part about waste, it touches every one of us, every day.”
Founded in 2014, RoadRunner Recycling estimates it has saved its 5,000 customers about $20 million. On average, RoadRunner says its platform helps customers recycle 8.6 tons of material annually that would have previously been sent to landfills.
Mr. Rihn would not disclose any revenue information about RoadRunner Recycling. In total, the company has raised $44 million according to Crunchbase, a portal where companies can self-report rounds of funding.
In Pittsburgh, the company works with clients including GetGo, Heinz Field, UPMC, Allegheny Health Network and Allegheny County. It signed a $150,000 contract with Allegheny County in 2018 to begin routing trucks to pick up recyclables from nine county parks, the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and four Kane Regional Centers, which are nursing homes and rehabilitation centers run by the county.
So far, RoadRunner estimates it has picked up about 8,000 tons from 24 facilities in Allegheny County.
Lauren Rosenblatt: lrosenblatt@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1565.
First Published: March 17, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
Updated: March 17, 2020, 3:16 p.m.
