Despite the well-known environmental benefits of recycling, it is estimated that less than 10% of the world’s plastic is recycled. Ganiga Innovation seeks to increase this percentage by using AI-enabled robotic trash cans.
Italian startup Ganiga has built three products to help better manage waste and recycling. The first is a fleet of robotic trash cans, called Hoooly, which use generative AI to determine what is waste and what is recycled and sort the waste accordingly. The second is a smart lid that can be installed on existing trash cans with the same functionality as its larger counterpart.
The company also has software that allows companies to track the waste they produce; it offers suggestions on how a company can reduce waste generation based on its waste data.
Ganiga will be showcasing its technology in this year’s Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27-29 at Moscone West in San Francisco.
Nicolas Zeoli, founder and CEO of Ganiga, told TechCrunch that he had dreamed of building the next big company, like Facebook or Apple, since he was younger.
He decided to focus on waste because, he said, the problems surrounding waste management are very real in his native Italy – and it was clear that little was being done about it.
“We all need to tackle this problem,” Zeoli said. “I’ve read 100 articles about this problem. For example, in one year, in just one year, worldwide, over 100 million tons of plastic are created and only 9% is recycled. It’s a very real problem.”
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Zeoli launched Ganiga in 2021 and built its first prototype in 2022. Zeoli said they decided to focus on building a trash can to solve this problem because it gives people a physical place to put trash that can guarantee it will be properly recycled and sorted, and because trash cans spit out data that can be used for the future.
Waste management is also costly for businesses, Zeoli said. Many organizations, particularly in Europe, must comply with ESG mandates. Zeoli hopes Hoooly can help businesses better track their waste production to help them reduce waste and waste-related costs in the long term.
Ganiga began selling its trash cans in 2024 and has since sold more than 120 robots to clients like Google and several airports, including Bologna, Venice and Madrid, among others.
Zeoli said the company had revenue of $500,000 in 2024 and is already at $750,000 in the first nine months of 2025 alone.
The company also raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding from investors including cleantech venture capital firm NextSTEP and NextEnergy Capital, among others. Ganiga is looking to raise a $3 million seed round.
The company is preparing to launch its latest product in November, Hooolyfood, software that uses camera footage to determine the exact amount of food waste. The company also plans to launch into other software-focused products in the future, Zeoli said, based on data collected by its current bins and software.
Ganiga has focused so far on the European market, but Zeoli said he hopes to expand to the United States; the company is even considering moving its headquarters to the United States in 2026.
“Ganiga is the first startup in the world to fill an airport with smart trash cans,” Zeoli said. “This is important because we are not targeting the prototype; we are a product and we are open to the market.”
If you want to learn directly from Ganiga, see dozens of additional valuable pitches and workshops, and make connections that drive business results, head here to learn more about this year’s Disrupt, taking place October 27-29 in San Francisco.
