Phuc Labs

Why mine for virgin metals when they can be recovered and recycled from the ever-growing stream of global electronic waste?

Phuc Labs has modernized recycling technology for e-waste and valuable earth metals to make ecological vitality profitable. Rather than relying on traditional analog methods like filtration technology or smelting—both of which are highly inefficient and polluting—our solution is a digital innovation:

We use computer vision and robotics to identify and recover resources from waste with higher accuracy and less energy, thus relieving pressure on the global supply chain and empowering manufacturing and industrial companies to meet sustainable development goals.

Co-founder’s prior VC-funded startup sold to Uber for $1.1B
Patented AI & robotics tech sorts & recycles precious metals from e-waste
Novel digital tech produces 30% more efficient using 80% less energy
Large market opportunity with e-waste worth $65B
Pilots w/ largest battery maker in U.S. & e-waste recycler in Philippines
Veteran start-up team w/ proven value creation & multiple successful exits

Dr. Richard Fontana
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
40+ years as a mechanical engineer w/ government projects & startups: Kiva Systems (acq. by Amazon Robotics) & Desktop Metal (IPO). Expertise in R&D, program management, & tech to market. Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, MIT.

Dr. Varada Palakkal
Director of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in materials & technology development for electrochemical separation & energy conversion. Patented 5x published work at Argonne National Laboratories. Postdoc at UT Austin. PhD at Louisiana State University.

Matthew Schwab
Director of Engineering
Experienced engineer with startup and management experience at Oculus (Haptics), Offworld (Autonomous Mining), and General Dynamics (MBSE), and civil engineering in the U.S. Air Force. M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from CSULA.

Aaron Kessler
Business Development
20+ years experience as an entrepreneur across 8 startups, managing client support, sales, marketing, business operations, and human resources. B.S. History from Harvard University, 1998.

Midnight Zero
VP Mechanical Engineering
Expert in 3D printing: researching, inventing, designing, fabricating, & testing solutions for 3D printing with metal powder at high speed. Mechanical Engineering at UMass Amherst, 2014.