YC S26 startup Grip uses foundation models to sort unsortable waste

ycombinator · x · 2026-08-19

Grip, a YC S26 startup, builds intelligent robots designed to pick trash that existing sorting machines cannot handle. Leveraging advancements in foundation models, their robots can grasp deformable, entangled, and novel objects common in waste streams. Grip installs modular robotic cells where every pick improves the fleet's intelligence. They start with plastic contamination in organic waste and plan to expand to all streams currently requiring manual labor, aiming to become the general manipulation platform for global waste infrastructure.

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