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Amp, which sorts waste with AI and robots, has closed $70 million in project debt to build two recycling facilities in Portsmouth, Virginia, the company tells Axios Pro exclusively.

Why it matters: The investment is Amp's first project debt and shows how the company has matured enough to use lower-cost capital to build new facilities. 

Zoom in: Galvanize led the deal, which will finance the build-out of a sortation facility and an organics processing facility for Virginia's Southeastern Public Service Authority.

Amp already built out the first phase, which provided performance and economic data to help Galvanize get comfortable, says Suresh Vasan, Partner, Credit and Capital Solutions at Galvanize.

"It's really critical to be able to take an asset-intensive business, like what Amp is doing, and be able to finance it at the project level," says Amp's SVP of finance, Mary Macpherson.

How it works: Amp's system takes trash-sorting responsibilities off of residents and uses AI and robotics to sort waste more effectively.

Amp is achieving an over 50% diversion rate of waste from landfills at the Virginia facility.

The organics processing facility will heat organic waste into biochar, which captures carbon and creates carbon removal credits.

Catch up quick: Google is buying 200,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from the project by 2030.

Follow the money: The Louisville, Colorado-based startup, founded in 2014, has raised over $300 million across prior rounds.

This summer, Amp raised up to $75 million via a convertible note from existing investors.

Investors include Congruent Ventures, Blue Earth Capital, California State Teachers' Retirement System, Liberty Mutual Investments, Wellington Management, Range Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Tao Capital Partners, and XN.

The big picture: Many climate tech startups with next-gen technology finance their first facilities with VC equity, which can be expensive.

Startups that can cross over to debt for projects show maturing businesses and benefit from the lower-cost capital.

State of play: Municipal waste recycling in the U.S. is broken, with low recycling and composting rates in many regions. 

But sorting is something that AI can do more efficiently and cost-effectively than a human.

The bottom line: Debt financing could be the key to kicking tech-enabled recycling into a higher gear.

Exclusive: Amp closes $70M project debt for recycling plants

The debt indicates a maturing of the tech and the company.

Industrial waste processing line inside a metal warehouse: angled gray conveyors on blue frames, tangled cables, and piles of trash on the belt; "AMP" logos on black panels.

Amp's waste sorting technology uses AI and robotics to sort trash. Photo: Courtesy of Amp

Amp, which sorts waste with AI and robots, has closed $70 million in project debt to build two recycling facilities in Portsmouth, Virginia, the company tells Axios Pro exclusively.Why it matters: The investment is Amp&#x27;s first project debt and shows how the company has matured enough to use lower-cost capital to build new facilities.

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Exclusive: Amp closes $70M project debt for recycling plants

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