# Danu Robotics Raises $5 Million for AI Recycling Robot

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/29156
Published: 2026-10-09T16:55:39.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-09T16:55:39.000Z
Section: Technology

> The Edinburgh company has $500,000 in signed contracts and more than 200 customers in its sales pipeline as it develops H.E.R.O.

Danu Robotics has raised $5 million in late-seed funding as it brings an artificial-intelligence recycling robot to market, with signed contracts and more than 200 potential customers supporting its expansion plans.

The Edinburgh, Scotland-based company has secured $500,000 in signed contracts and received letters of interest from two large customers. More than 200 customers are in its sales pipeline as Danu enters a recycling-sorting market valued at $20 billion across Europe and North America.

The company’s H.E.R.O. robot is designed to separate recyclable materials at waste-sorting facilities. It uses a pincer claw to pick up items instead of the suction systems used by some competing machines, including systems from Glacier and RecycleEye.

Danu is also building artificial intelligence into the robot’s software so it can improve continuously. The company is working to make H.E.R.O. sturdier, smaller and more versatile as it expands beyond dedicated recycling facilities.

Danu Robotics founder Amy Ma estimates that a working site using the robot could generate $485,000 in additional revenue. She puts the initial investment at $160,000, with yearly maintenance costs of $24,000.

Ma began developing the robot after seeing recyclable materials from office bins being sent to the trash. She has spent six years working on the technology and is now moving the company toward broader commercial use.

A smaller version could eventually operate as a standalone recycling system at events, shopping centers, hospitals and airports, Ma said. That would allow materials to be sorted closer to where they are discarded rather than only at specialized waste facilities.