WeSort.AI recovers critical raw materials from recycling plants

Würzburg, Germany-based startup WeSort.AI has secured 10 million euros, or $11.5 million, in funding from leading European impact investors such as Infinity Recycling, Green Generation Fund, Vent.io, the SPRIND agency and other public funding sources to scale its artificial intelligence- (AI-) based technology for recovering critical raw materials from recycling plants. The financing is provided with the support of the BayStartUP investor network.

With the capital, WeSort.AI aims to expand the market presence of its AI sorting system and strengthen European raw material sovereignty.

WeSort.AI, founded in 2021 by Nathanael Laier and Johannes Laier, uses artificial intelligence, special cameras and X-rays to automatically detect batteries and electronic waste that were placed in incorrect waste fractions, sorting them for proper recycling. The technology also can sort a wide variety of hazardous or valuable critical raw materials from various material streams, such as end-of-life vehicles, electronics, construction waste, industrial and household waste. The system has been in use since 2024 at leading waste management companies such as Korn Recycling in Germany and PreZero, part of the Schwarz Group, and prevents fires in processing facilities as well as ensuring the recovery of strategically important raw materials.

The EU Critical Raw Materials Act sets ambitious goals for European raw material independence. Today, Europe depends on imports of critical materials—rare earths from China, lithium from Chile and cobalt from Africa. These dependencies harbor economic and geopolitical risks.

“Our technology addresses precisely this problem,” says Nathanael Laier, who co-founded We.Sort.AI with Johannes Laier. “By recovering previously unused critical raw materials from waste, we are tapping into a previously untapped ‘urban mine’ and contributing directly to the implementation of EU requirements.”

The company recently won the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge of the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovations, as well as additional grants from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the state of Bavaria. The funding, amounting to several million euros, will be used to further optimize its sorting technology and scale it up to new applications.

“Our investment reflects our strong confidence in WeSort.AI's business model and innovative technology,” says Nicky van 't Hof, investments at Infinity Recycling in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “By preventing fires and recovering critical raw materials, WeSort.AI solves one of the industry's biggest problems. This investment, our first in Germany, demonstrates our commitment to expanding the circular economy in Europe.”

Peter Dorfner, partner at Berlin-based Green Generation Fund, adds, “We were particularly impressed by the fact that the Battery Sort solution is unique in its form worldwide and, with its patent, is strongly protected from competition on the international market.”