Ayoola Brimmo and Matteo Chiesa founded Cycled, a startup company whose goal is to combat plastic waste, as reported by CNN’s Startup Trail. Brimmo, a native of Nigeria, and Chiesa, his former professor, were brought together by their mutual desire to have an influence.
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Cycled, a business from Brimmo, has created AI-powered smart bins that encourage recycling and effectively sort waste. “I went to a landfill in Lagos, Nigeria, where I’m from, and the light bulb moment was basically when we did the math and realised that close to $100 million worth of material ends up in that landfill every year,” he and Chiesa said, drawing inspiration from a real-life case study.
This is huge, I thought. What then can we do to recover this value and turn it into a business? With seed money covering his first steps, Brimmo is well-positioned to transform trash management and have a big impact on sustainability worldwide.
He addresses one of the most important environmental concerns in the world by talking CNN through his machines: “It’s a collection and segregation station for recyclables. […] The machine essentially uses optical sensors and image recognition to determine what you have tossed in, as well as characterisation technologies to determine how much of stuff you have thrown in.
In order to transform inspiring concepts into meaningful realities, the funding process is essential. Brimmo’s path is based on a combination of his unwavering will to combat plastic waste and the discipline he learnt while practicing Jiu-Jitsu.
“There are countless ways to get better at Jiu-Jitsu; you start with your hands, your legs, your thoughts, whatever,” he adds. “It’s the same in business. They have a lot in common. It’s an endless way to get better. CNN’s Startup Trail examines Abu Dhabi’s flourishing startup scene and its growing ecosystem in this special half-hour show.
Brimmo and Chiesa hope to grow even more, develop their technology, increase their product line, and expand throughout the region.
