Boston Harbor Angels is a group of proven business leaders interested in investing a portion of their assets in high growth, early stage companies. The group was formed in February 2004 and since then has made a number of investments in companies in medical devices, IT, consumer products, business products, specialty materials, Internet, aviation, etc. They believe they contribute more than money to the companies they fund and welcome the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs open to take advice, yet having the smarts and determination to make the company successful.  Their focus is on early stage companies usually looking to raise $250K to $1.5M, where they can fund a portion of the round and syndicate the deal with other angel groups or early stage venture funds. The stage of the company should be close to commercialization, while the company should have a clear and defensible competitive advantage. They are looking for capital efficient businesses, which can reach profitability with less than $5M of equity investment and provide at least 10X return on the investment within 5 years.  They do not invest as a fund - each of their members makes his or her individual investment decision but they collaborate in Due Diligence. They have a deep expertise in the life sciences field where they usually take the position of a lead investor, but are open to any opportunities that can make a strong business case. In some cases they prefer to be the follow on investor if they cannot identify a person with strong expertise within their group.  The groupâ€™s strategy is directed by an executive committee which consists of 8 people elected by the group: Wayne Griffith (chairman), Bill McPhee, Henry Kay, Jay Schwartz (membership director), Steve Andress, Peter Miller, Don Freeman and Mic Williams (president and founder). The groupâ€™s day-to-day operations are managed by Boris Batchvarov (managing director).  They receive 20-30 business summaries each month, out of which they select 8 companies to make a personal presentation to their screening committee. The screening committee consists of volunteers from the group. The presentations are 10 min long followed by 10 min Q&A. 4 of the companies are invited to present to the whole group, with the idea to get the people interested and decide to perform a Due Diligence with the companies before making an investment.

Boston Harbor Angels

The Rochester Angel Network encourages applications from Upstate New York companies that are at an early stage, and have highly scalable business models.  Typical attributes of a company that would be of interest to the Rochester Angel Network include those with high-growth potential (e.g., tens of millions of dollars in revenue or more), a national or international customer base, a completed business plan, a reasonable exit strategy within ~4-7 years of investment (i.e., a merger / acquisition or IPO), and seeking investment typically in the $250K - $2M range.  In the past, the Rochester Angel Network has invested in biotech and energy companies.

Rochester Angel Network

Keiretsu Forum is an investment community of accredited private equity investors, venture capitalists and corporate/institutional investors. Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. The community is strengthened through its involvement in social and charitable activities.  They are a worldwide network of capital, resources and deal flow with chapters in Andalucía, Barcelona, Beijing, Boise, Chennai, India, Donostia/San Sebastián, East Bay, Istanbul, Kirkland-Eastside, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, New York, North Bay, Orange County, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Spokane-Inland, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Vancouver, Ventura County, Victoria-Vancouver Island/BC , Washington D.C., Waterloo-Wellington  ''Keiretsu'' definition Keiretsu is a Japanese term describing a group of affiliated corporations with broad power and reach. Keiretsu Forum is described as a conglomeration of individuals or small companies that are organized around private equity funding for mutual benefit. Keiretsu Forum believes that through a holistic approach that includes interlocking relationships with partners and key resources, they can offer an association that produces the highest quality deal-flow and investment opportunities.

Keiretsu Forum

Walnut Venture Associates is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in seed, and early stage companies. The firm typically invests in information technology sectors. It typically invests in companies based in the New England area. The firm prefers to invest between $250,000 and $1 million. It seeks to have a board seat in its portfolio companies. Walnut Venture Associates is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.  Walnut Venture Associates is a group of experienced entrepreneurs and investors seeking investment opportunities in seed and early-stage companies in the New England area. We are focused on information technology companies with significant technology addressing rapidly growing markets. We can commit $250,000 to $1,000,000 to a single financing. Our objective is to help talented entrepreneurs build lasting businesses of significant value and to participate as active investors.  Walnut Venture Associates can help your company by working with you to refine your business plan, to fill out the management team, to develop financing strategies, and to make key contacts for strategic partnerships. A single member of the group will normally serve on the Board of Directors of your company, but the resources of the entire group are available to you

Walnut Venture Associates

Spring Lane Capital offers a new approach to faster growth for companies that deploy smaller-scale projects and equipment. With their Integrated Deployment Capital model, they partner with entrepreneurs in the energy, water, food and waste industries to help them offer their customers what they really want: Solutions, not complications.

Spring Lane Capital

AXA Investment Managers is an active, global, multi-asset investor focused on enabling more people to harness the power of investing to meet their financial goals. As the investment partner of AXA Group, the A-rated protection and wealth management provider, AXA Investment Managers draws on a longstanding heritage of creating solutions to manage real-life risks and challenges. At the same time, AXA Investment Managers' investment professionals are committed to finding efficient and sustainable sources of return across world markets, from equities to fixed income, and real assets to other alternative asset classes.

AXA Investment Managers

Ahlstrom Capital is an investment company focus on industrial companies and clean technology.

Ahlstrom Capital

Global Brain Corporation is a venture capital firm that invests in companies from seed or early to pre-IPO startups.  Global Brain has invested in 300+ startups from seed/early to pre-IPO startups and achieved 25 IPOs and 61 M&As as a result of providing hands-on support services and resources to its portfolio startups. Global Brain has managed a pure investment fund as well as multiple corporate venture capital funds partnered together with tier 1 public companies of telecom, real estate development, financial service, beverages, agriculture food, logistics, and electronic devices.

Global Brain Corporation

Tokyu Construction engages in civil engineering, construction, and real estate businesses. The construction of infrastructure, including railroads, roads, tunnels, and bridges, as well as earthquake disaster recovery initiatives They create community-based urban development initiatives. They are working on the real estate purchase and leasing industry, which combines elements of the construction, rental, and equivalent-exchange industries.

Tokyu Construction

Climate Innovation Capital is a growth equity fund focused on late-stage venture and mid-market PE.

Climate Innovation Capital

CleanFiber

CleanFiber makes high-performance, carbon-negative building insulation from recycled corrugated cardboard.  The company is fully commercial and rapidly scaling up production from its first facility in Buffalo, NY.

CleanFiber, formerly known as Ultracell Insulation, focuses on recycling cardboard into cellulose insulation to be used in attics, walls and floors of residential or commercial construction, and retrofit applications. The company started commercial production of its certified CleanFiber in 2020, after nine years of R&amp;D.&nbsp; The company’s patented manufacturing process uses a wet separation and infusion process and claims to produce higher-quality insulation with lower amounts of dust and contamination.

Reinforcing recycling, rerouting refuse, and reducing wasteflows

Waste Recovery & Management Tech

CleanFiber Secures $28M to Disrupt Insulation Market with Recycled Cardboard

CleanFiber, formerly known as Ultracell Insulation, focuses on recycling cardboard into cellulose insulation to be used in attics, walls and floors of residential or commercial construction, and retrofit applications. The company started commercial production of its certified CleanFiber in 2020, after nine years of R&amp;D.&nbsp; The company’s patented manufacturing process uses a wet separation and infusion process and claims to produce higher-quality insulation with lower amounts of dust and contamination.The company operates a 60,000 sq ft production facility in Buffalo. As of June 2023, the company shipped over 1 million bags of cellulose insulation and recycled over 15,000 tons of material. In 2023, the company began a USD 16 million expansion project to bring the facility to 67,000 sq ft and reach an annual output of 3 million bags. The company planned to fulfill demand from New York, New England, the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Eastern Canada solely from its Buffalo facility.Funding and financialsIn May 2023, CleanFiber secured a <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/business/cleanfiber-gains-5-million-in-investment-as-it-continues-growth/article_d636c13c-0488-11ee-94e1-df12fa33cebd.html">USD 5 million investment </a>to support the completion of an expansion to its factory in Blasdell and help fund future growth.

Based in the UK, SEaB Energy provides clients with a waste to energy technology. The company sells two products called Flexibuster and Muckbuster that convert waste into energy. Flexibuster converts organic waste, while Muckbuster is designed to convert slurry waste. These are anaerobic digestion units which are containerized and can be easily bought and installed by any entity to get the required power Flexibusters are suitable for small and medium sized entities that produce between 500kg and 2,500kg of organic waste per day. As of June 2021, the company operates and manufactures its products in England, Portugal, and the USA.According to the company, one cubic meter of waste creates one household unit of electricity. The company helps customers by collecting a sample of their feedstock and estimates how much power its products can deliver by converting the particular type of feedstock. The company reports that its clients include fortune 50 companies, hospitals, non-profit organizations, property developers, and hypermarkets.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://seabenergy.com/axon-partners-enagas-emprende-investment/">September 2022,</a> SEaB Energy raised an undisclosed investment led by Axon Partners Group to expand its solutions in Europe, Latin America and the US.

SEaB Energy

RoadRunner Recycling helps predict recycling plans for businesses (such as hotels, mills, warehouses) by using algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI). While helping them recycle their waste, the company also offers scheduled and one-off waste pickup services for businesses in the US.The company claims that the usage of its services has on average allowed a 16% saving in waste and recycling expenditures for customers and increased diversion from landfills by threefold.The company operates a shared-savings business model, where it generates revenue based on the level of the customer’s savings. As of October 2022, the company has diverted over 300,000 tons of material from disposal across 12,000 accounts, saving customers nearly USD 50 million on waste and recycling services.In October 2022, RoadRunner acquired Compology, the world's largest waste and recycling smart metering technology company.Key customers and partnershipsRoadRunner Recycling partnered with Avery Dennison (a label and packaging materials company) in September 2020 to launch a scalable matrix recycling program to help Avery’s <a href="https://www.packagingtechtoday.com/news-headlines/avery-dennison-launches-matrix-recycling-program-with-roadrunner-recycling/label-tape/">label</a> converters achieve their zero-waste-to-landfill goals. Some of the company’s key customers are Boxer Property, Forman Mills, and the PM Hotel Group.&nbsp;Funding and financials&nbsp;In its latest funding round in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14646">November 2022</a>, the company raised USD 20 million funding in its extended Series D round led by Fifth Wall. The funds were expected to support growth of the company's core business, expansion of enterprise offerings, and strengthening the investments in technology, thus improving sustainability in the real estate sector.

RoadRunner Recycling

<div>
 
 AMP (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26429">
 formerly
 </a>
 AMP Robotics) uses robots and AI to sort waste by type. Following the company&rsquo;s rebranding, it shifted focus from supplying sorting robots to building automated, facility-scale recycling solutions that incorporate AI and robotics. The company&rsquo;s AMP One-integrated sorting facility combines a number of AMP&rsquo;s modular solutions to deliver a material recovery facility (MRF) that requires no manual sorting. The facilities are able to autonomously sort multiple waste streams, including municipal solid waste, MRF residue, and mixed plastic waste into bales of materials.
 
 
 The modular solutions that make up AMP One include
 
 
 AMP Vision: 
 An AI-powered machine vision system capable of identifying over 50 categories of materials present in waste streams. The company claims it uses the world&rsquo;s largest real-world dataset for materials with over 75 billion data points.&nbsp;
 
 
 AMP Jet and Microjet: 
 An AI-based sorting system that leverages AMP Vision to identify materials and separates these two material streams simultaneously using two rows of 50 air nozzles. The system also uses AI to track the path of sorted materials and adjust jets. AMP Jet is claimed to be able to recover over 90% of target materials without human intervention. The Microjet is a compact version that can be mounted on the side of a conveyor belt.
 
 
 AMP Delta: 
 A robotic sortation system that uses AMP Vision to mechanically sort waste streams, reaching pick rates of over 80 items per mimute. Also available in Tandem (120 items per minute) and Compact (65 items per minute) variants.
 
 
 AMP Vac:
 A belt-mounted vacuum array that removes and collects thin film that can be used for pyrolysis applications. It is able to collect up to 120 picks per minute.
 
 
 AMP Insight and AMP SmartTons
 : A real-time reporting tool and system for tagging sorted bales, which can specify the exact composition and purity of the recovered material.
 
 
 The company reports that its plants are able to handle between 15 and 100+ kilotons of waste annually. AMP also has turnkey plants available, and claims it can deploy custom-built plants in as little as nine months. As of February 2024, the company has more than 230 deployments in more than 80 facilities and robotic systems in over 20 states in the US, and in Canada, Japan, and Europe.
 
 
 In May 2023, the company unveiled a complete line of 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18116">
 AI-powered automation solutions 
 </a>
 for materials recovery facilities (MRFs), including a new compact robotic sortation solution, AI-driven improvements in targeting and robotic gripping reliability, and integrated AI-powered facility solution.
 
 
 In November 2022, the company opened its new 84,000 sq ft facility in Louisville.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In September 2021, AMP installed its 
 <a href="https://ampsortation.com/articles/amp-robotics-installs-its-first-recycling-robots-in-the-united-kingdom-and-ireland-with-recyco">
 first AI-guided robotics
 </a>
 systems in the UK and Ireland with Recyco, a recycling and waste management business in Northern Ireland. In July 2023, the Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW) acquired three recycling robots from AMP Robotics. In March 2022, AMP extended its partnership with Evergreen, adding six robots in Riverside, California, and planned to add three more in Albany, New York, in addition to the existing six robots in Clyde. In June 2022, AMP expanded its partnership with its reportedly largest customer waste connections.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In November 2022, the company raised USD 91 million in corporate equity in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=54">
 Series C
 </a>
 funding round led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management. In May 2023, the company also raised an undisclosed amount from 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18384">
 Microsoft&rsquo;s Climate Innovation 
 </a>
 Fund, bringing AMP&rsquo;s Series C round to a total of more than USD 99 million. The company intended to use the funds to retrofit existing recycling infrastructure with technology solutions, as well as develop new infrastructure using AI-powered automation.
 
</div>

Redwood Materials was founded by Tesla’s former CTO to focus on e-waste recycling for remanufacturing and reuse. The company uses a proprietary technology to recover elements including cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite from old battery cells (from vehicles and consumer electronics), which can be re-used for battery production.The company announced its first energy storage system recycling project&nbsp; in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23461">November 2023</a> — dismantling and recycling a 4MWh stationary storage substation in Kauai, Hawaii. In <a href="https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/redwood-materials-launches-pricing-tool-for-ev-batteries/">October 2023</a>, Redwood launched an online tool with advanced tracking and management systems for automotive dismantlers to value and sell recovered EV battery packs directly back to the company.&nbsp;In September 2023, Redwood Materials acquired <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22008">Redux Recycling</a> to accelerate Redwood's expansion into Europe.Key customers and partnershipsThe company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5878">Ford </a>in September 2021 to build a closed-loop for battery recycling and create a domestic battery supply chain for EVs in the US. The company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11597">Volkswagen</a> Group (Audi’s parent company) in July 2022 and Lyft in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14863">November 2022</a>, to recycle batteries while expanding its presence in the US.In January 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15516">Flite</a>, an Australian electric hydrofoil producer, to recycle end-of-life Flitecell e-foil batteries in the US. In April 2023, the company expanded its partnership with Volkswagen to launch a consumer recycling program for rechargeable devices and lithium-ion batteries. During the same period, the company partnered with e-bike manufacturer <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18071">Rad Power Bikes</a> to launch an electric bike battery recycling program.In October 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22440">Panasonic</a> to extracting high-purity nickel from end-of-life batteries and supplying it to Panasonic Energy, a subsidiary of Panasonic Holdings, by 2028. This partnership is preceded by the agreement to purchase cathode-active materials and copper foil for EV lithium-ion batteries in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14645">November 2022.</a>In November 2023, the company announced that it would supply cathode materials and copper coils for battery cells produced at Toyota’s North Carolina plant (due to go into production in 2025). This builds on Redwood’s initial partnership with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11217">Toyota</a> in June 2022, under which the company would refurbish/recycle batteries from hybrid vehicles.Funding and financialsIn August 2023, Redwood Materials raised more than USD 1 billion in a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21369">Series D funding</a> round to expand its capacity, grow the domestic battery supply chain, and enable its customers to purchase battery materials made in the US for the first time. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16272">February 2023</a>, the Department of Energy (DOE) committed a USD 2 billion loan to Redwood Materials to construct and expand its battery recycling facility west of Reno, Nevada.

Redwood Materials

SmarterX (formerly Smarter Sorting) uses machine learning, algorithms, and a cloud-based platform to scan, identify, categorize, and sort chemical-containing products. This helps retailers and their suppliers get rid of unwanted chemicals, which Smarter Sorting will pick up to recycle instead of having them incinerated. The company also introduced a new regulatory platform in 2020 by partnering with a major retailer, to help retailers to ship and sell lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries sustainably, by providing them adequate support on regulatory requirements around li-ion battery products. The company provides its services in the USA and Canada.The company charges businesses a subscription fee per month based on the number of items they register for the sorting assessment.&nbsp;As of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12053">August 2022</a>, the company had secured over 1,600 consumer brands and partnerships with 24 national supermarkets and retailers, including Costco, Wegmans, and Albertsons Companies. They claim their technology can classify 2 million consumer products across 3,500+ data points and 150 million chemical compounds.Funding and financialsIn August 2022, the company raised USD 7 million in a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12053">funding round</a> led by Regeneration VC. This is an extension of the company’s previous funding round in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9315">March 2022</a>.

SmarterX

Startups offering platforms or software solutions incorporating technologies such as sensors, robotics, and AI to monitor and improve the waste collection process using several methods: identifying optimal waste collection time, connecting businesses and individuals with haulers, optimizing trash pickup routes, and increasing transparency in waste management throughout the production process.

Startups that separate waste by type, either by using robotics or analytics (AI, machine learning), to help streamline the recycling process.

Startups that develop recycling technologies or provide solutions such as AI-based online platforms or algorithm-based predictive solutions to primarily support businesses in their in-house recycling efforts.

Startups developing recycling technologies, including the pyrolysis process or a recycled propylene technology, to convert plastic waste into products such as pure propylene, recycled plastic, crude oil, and furniture.

Startups developing recycling technologies such as polymer recycling, flexible hydrothermal processing, etc., to recycle textile waste into products that include carbon neutral fiber or transform the waste into new products with greater value through upcycling technologies.

Startups developing recycling technologies such as lithium-ion battery recycling processes or a Magnet-to-Magnetä recycling process to convert electronic waste into products that include recycled batteries and cathode materials.

Startups developing recycling technologies to separate materials made by combining two or more materials with different properties (composite materials) and recycle them into secondary use raw materials such as aluminum, plastic, leather, and cardboard.

Startups using proprietary technologies to recycle waste (besides plastic, textile, and electronic waste) into harmless waste materials or into materials that can be used to make household goods, furniture, and construction material.

Startups using recycling technologies such as anaerobic digestion or a chemical process to convert waste into energy.

Solutions that aim to keep waste out of landfills

Waste management platforms use AI/ML for analysis and real-time updates

Develops waste collection systems such as sensored bins, monitored waste collection, and on-demand waste collection

Reuses and recycles waste to keep them out of landfills

Provides sensor-based automated processes for waste management

IoT-enable devices and platforms to manage waste and improve recycling rates

CleanFiber

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