What Litterati does

Litterati is a data science company that operates a crowdsourced platform for collecting, classifying, and mapping litter worldwide. Users photograph litter through iOS and Android mobile applications or a web dashboard, with machine learning applied to identify the object, material, and brand of each item, and geo-coordinates captured automatically to support hotspot mapping and spatial analysis. The company's stated dataset covers 185 countries and 19 million pieces of litter, which it exposes through an Analyze dashboard for government and enterprise customers and through an Engage layer for community challenges and corporate employee engagement programs.

The product portfolio spans the core Litterati Platform, the Analyze analytics module (block-by-block measurements, hotspot maps, extrapolation maps), an Engage community module, an Employee Engagement offering for corporate ESG programs, an Education module with STEM-based lesson plans, and the City Fingerprint Project, a multi-period, multi-city research initiative launched in 2022 with Memphis, Norfolk, and Hayward. Revenue mechanics combine a freemium consumer app with paid individual subscriptions and an enterprise Analyze tier sold via direct sales to cities and organizations; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company is registered in Delaware with its operating office in Durham, NC, and lists 1-10 employees.

Notable deployments include San Francisco (data used as legal evidence to defend and double a litter abatement tax generating $4 million annually), Keep Britain Tidy (national baseline study across 5,250+ UK locations, with a follow-up showing a 17% reduction in cigarette butt litter), and the World Bank (city-level waste analysis in coastal East African cities, expanding from Tanzania into Kenya and Mozambique). The company has been funded primarily through non-dilutive National Science Foundation grants and small accelerator checks rather than disclosed venture capital.

Name

Litterati

Legal name

Litterati Inc.

Website

https://litterati.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Litterati is a data science company that runs a crowdsourced mobile and web platform for photographing, classifying, and mapping litter worldwide, selling analytics dashboards to cities, NGOs, and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Data Analytics

NAICS

Solid Waste Collection (562111), Waste Collection (56211)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Street & Public-Space Litter Collection (Bins, Parks, Transit) (EUAIAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Street & Public Space Litter Collection (Municipal Cleaning) (BPALAAAE)

Keywords

• Citizen science platform
• Litter data analytics
• Crowdsourced environmental data
• Computer vision classification
• Municipal data platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Paid Subscriptions: Platform offers free service options as well as Paid Subscriptions. Users can purchase Paid Subscriptions directly from the website. Pricing may vary by service tier. Subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each period unless cancelled.
2. Enterprise/City Subscriptions: Analyze platform sold to governments, communities, and enterprise customers for diagnosing litter and taking preventive action. Cities pay for data-driven insights and quarterly research reports.
3. Freemium Model: Individual users can access basic platform features free of charge. Paid subscriptions unlock additional features and capabilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Litterati operates a global data science platform accessible via iOS, Android, and web that enables users to photograph, geo-tag, and categorize litter, then aggregates this crowdsourced data into dashboards and analytics for governments, NGOs, and enterprises. The platform's core value lies in transforming individual cleanup actions into machine-learning-classified, brand- and material-level datasets that inform municipal policy, infrastructure investment, and legal evidence such as tax-defense cases.

Product overview

Litterati is a unified data science platform comprising mobile applications (iOS & Android) and a web dashboard. The core platform enables users to photograph, categorize, and map litter globally. The product portfolio includes: Analyze (the primary data analytics module for governments and enterprises to diagnose litter composition and map hotspots), Engage (community engagement through crowdsourced challenges), Employee Engagement (corporate team competitions), Education (STEM lesson plans for schools), and the City Fingerprint Project (an expanded research program with multiple city partners). The platform is available via free and paid subscription tiers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Analyze: A platform enabling governments, communities, and enterprise customers to diagnose the state of litter and take action to prevent it.
• Engage
• City Fingerprint Project

Products and services

• Litterati Platform A data science platform accessible through iOS, Android, and web that allows individual users and organizations to photograph, geo-tag, categorize, and map litter around the world. Supports both free and paid subscription tiers.
• Analyze A data analytics platform for governments, communities, and enterprise customers that diagnoses the state of litter through object/material/brand identification, block-by-block measurements, hotspot mapping, and extrapolation maps.
• Engage A community engagement platform that harnesses crowdsourced data to inspire citizens, local businesses, and non-profits to take collective action against litter through challenges and competitions.
• Employee Engagement A corporate offering that enables companies to virtually connect employees from around the world through litter collection competitions between teams, offices, or countries with quick and simple campaign setup.
• Education (LitteratiED) A free STEM-based education offering with tech-enabled lesson plans that bring engaging, eco-friendly content into curricula and help students learn about and act on their local environment.
• City Fingerprint Project An expanded research initiative extending the Analyze platform across multiple cities, conducting four evaluation periods per city to monitor changing conditions and determine which litter prevention interventions are effective.

Quantifiable outcome

• San Francisco generated $4,000,000 annually from a litter abatement tax defended using Litterati data
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe World Bank partnered with Litterati as part of the City to Sea program to conduct city-level analysis of litter and waste in coastal cities in East Africa. The project mapped litter hotspots and estimated volume and weight of materials, guiding strategic decisions on collection services, infrastructure placement, and resource allocation. Partnership has expanded from Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Bagamoyo, Mtwara) to Kenya and Mozambique.
• Keep Britain TidycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKeep Britain Tidy partnered with Litterati to conduct a national baseline study on litter across more than 5,250 locations throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The statistically significant sampling strategy used additional datasets including Land Use Type, Deprivation Index, and Urban vs. Rural classifications. A follow-up study measured 17% reduction in cigarette butt littering.
• City of San FranciscocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSan Francisco used Litterati's platform to document cigarette butt litter as legal evidence to defend its litter abatement tax against tobacco industry challenge. The court ruled in favor of the tax and doubled its size, generating $4,000,000 annually for city services and cleanup efforts.
• City of MemphiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemphis partnered with Litterati for the City Fingerprint Project to address increased illegal dumping during the pandemic. Partnership includes collaboration with Memphis Public Works Department, Keep Memphis Beautiful, Memphis Transformed, Memphis Innovate, Clean Memphis, and Love 901.
• City of NorfolkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorfolk partnered with Litterati to combat litter that increased during COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected aids public awareness, education, and grassroots efforts. Partnership involves university collaboration with Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, and Virginia Wesleyan University.
• City of HaywardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHayward partnered with Litterati for the City Fingerprint Project to understand single-use plastic litter and develop policies. Partnership involves Keep Hayward Clean & Green Task Force, California State University East Bay, Downtown Streets Team, and Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center.
• Keep Memphis BeautifulminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal nonprofit community partner in Memphis, Tennessee collaborating with Litterati for the City Fingerprint Project to recruit and train Citizen Science Researchers.
• Memphis TransformedminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMemphis nonprofit partner for the City Fingerprint Project, working with Litterati to connect with research candidates from the community.
• Memphis InnovateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMemphis innovation organization partnering with Litterati for community outreach and recruitment in the City Fingerprint Project.
• Clean MemphisminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMemphis environmental nonprofit collaborating with Litterati on the City Fingerprint Project to address litter and illegal dumping.
• Norfolk State UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity partner in Norfolk, Virginia participating in the City Fingerprint Project to recruit student researchers.
• Old Dominion UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity partner in Norfolk, Virginia for the City Fingerprint Project, providing student researchers.
• Virginia Wesleyan UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity partner in Norfolk, Virginia for the City Fingerprint Project, contributing student researchers.
• Keep Hayward Clean & Green Task ForceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHayward task force supporting research and recruitment efforts for the City Fingerprint Project.
• California State University, East BayminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity partner in Hayward, California for the City Fingerprint Project, providing student researchers.
• Downtown Streets TeamminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHayward community partner for the City Fingerprint Project supporting research and recruitment efforts.
• Hayward Shoreline Interpretive CenterminorGTM or Marketing PartnerConservation group partner in Hayward, California for the City Fingerprint Project.
• Love 901minorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal Memphis organization partnering with Litterati for community outreach in the City Fingerprint Project.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• OpenLitterMap: Open-source citizen-science platform that lets users photograph, geotag, and categorize litter via a mobile app. Directly comparable crowdsourced data model targeting the same individual contributors and open-data ethos as Litterati.
• Marine Debris Tracker: University-of-Georgia-developed mobile app for crowdsourced litter and marine debris reporting with geolocation and category tagging. Closely aligned citizen-science methodology and target user base as Litterati.
• TrashOut: Crowdsourced illegal-dumping and litter reporting platform used by municipalities and NGOs across Eastern Europe and beyond. Comparable model of volunteer-submitted geo-tagged waste data sold to governments and environmental organizations.

Emerging players

• Plastic Bank: Social enterprise that collects plastic waste while creating income for collectors in developing regions, with traceability data for brand owners. Overlaps with Litterati's brand-level litter intelligence and World Bank-adjacent development missions.
• CleanHub: Plastic-waste collection and offset platform that aggregates coastal cleanup data for consumer-brand plastic neutrality programs. Comparable value proposition for brand-accountability and ESG reporting, with lighter crowdsourcing component.
• Compology: Smart-camera-based waste and recycling monitoring with AI-driven fullness detection and route optimization for commercial haulers. Competes for the same 'data-driven waste decisions' budget with a sensor- rather than crowdsourcing-based model.
• Enevo: Waste logistics platform using ultrasonic fill-level sensors and predictive analytics to optimize collection routes. Comparable data-platform positioning for municipal and commercial waste customers, with hardware-led rather than crowdsourced approach.

Broad incumbents

• Rubicon Technologies: Public-traded (via SPAC) waste and recycling software and services provider offering routing, hauler marketplaces, and diversion analytics for municipalities and haulers. Broad incumbent in waste-data software competing for similar municipal budgets.
• Bigbelly: Smart, sensor-equipped public-space waste and recycling bin system deployed across cities and campuses worldwide. Targets the same municipal cleanliness and public-space waste-management buyers with connected infrastructure.
• iNaturalist: Joint California Academy of Sciences/National Geographic citizen-science platform for crowdsourced biodiversity observations with ML-assisted species ID. Highly analogous crowdsourcing + ML + open-data architecture serving a different vertical but with comparable scale and academic/government backing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/thelitterati
• Xx.com/Litterati

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Litterati