What VALIS does

VALIS Insights is a Massachusetts-based, privately held software company that builds AI-powered data and quality-management products for the metal recycling industry. The company was officially incorporated in July 2022, though its underlying AI research and development dates to 2019 with NSF SBIR support, and it operates as one of five business enterprise units of Solvus Global. Its three core products — VALI-Sample (an automated hardware-software sampling solution that captures high-resolution images, weights, particle count, and particle size distribution), VALI-Sort (a software platform that integrates with installed sensor-based sorting equipment to provide facility-wide performance monitoring, shipment quality reporting, sourcing traceability, and process simulation), and VALI-Melt (a melt-facility tool offering in-melt analysis, AI-powered feedstock qualification, and blend optimization) — collectively provide end-to-end visibility from material intake through melt operations. The underlying technology is built on proprietary machine learning algorithms trained on sensor and image data from recycling facilities, with capabilities spanning computer vision, predictive analytics, optimization, and anomaly detection.

The company serves two primary customer segments: metal processors and shredders (nonferrous sorting operations such as Zorba, Zebra, Twitch, UBCs, and Ferrous Shred) that need to defend shipment quality, reduce claims, and document material provenance, and melt facilities that need to qualify post-consumer scrap feedstock and maximize recycled content without sacrificing yield. Sales motion combines enterprise field sales targeting plant managers, commercial directors, and operations leadership with inside-sales handling inbound inquiries; go-to-market activities include booth presence at the ISRI Convention, founder-led podcast appearances, and content marketing in trade outlets such as Light Metal Age. Revenue is generated primarily through software subscriptions, with associated hardware components for the VALI-Sample product line, sold on multi-year enterprise contracts with custom quotes rather than publicly listed pricing.

Customer traction to date is at pilot scale, with a named commercial pilot at Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries) and additional deployment validated by an unnamed large processor. The company has been recognized through the Worcester Business Journal Green Manufacturing Award and as a MassChallenge Climate Award finalist, and it operates from headquarters in Worcester, MA and a secondary office in Leominster, MA.

Name

VALIS

Legal name

VALIS Insights, Inc.

Website

https://valisinsights.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

VALIS Insights is a Massachusetts-based AI software company serving the metal recycling industry. Its VALI-Sample, VALI-Sort, and VALI-Melt platforms provide real-time material quality monitoring, sort optimization, and blend analysis for metal processors, shredders, and melt facilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Recycling Software

NAICS

Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Support Activities for Mining (2131), Mining Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (333131)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

Advanced/Optical Sorting & Quality Control Services (NIR, AI, Robotics) (BPALADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Non-Ferrous Scrap Processing & Brokerage (Aluminum, Copper, Brass/Bronze, Lead, Zinc, Nickel) (IMAKAMAB), Scrap Metal Collection, Logistics & Aggregation (Yards, Roll-off, Container Programs) (IMAKAMAK)

Keywords

• Metal recycling software
• Scrap metal analytics
• Recycling process optimization
• Material quality monitoring
• Industrial AI software

Headquarters

HQ city

Worcester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Subscriptions (VALI-Sort, VALI-Sample): VALIS sells AI-powered software tools to metal recycling processors and melt facilities on a subscription basis. VALI-Sort monitors downstream facility performance and provides quality reporting. VALI-Sample is a combined hardware-software sampling solution. Revenue is generated through software licensing and possibly associated hardware components for sampling equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VALIS develops and sells an AI-powered software platform that integrates directly with sensor-based sorting equipment at metal recycling facilities to capture real-time material composition data, monitor quality, optimize sorting and blending processes, and provide facility-wide performance insights. Its three integrated offerings—VALI-Sort (facility insights and reporting), VALI-Sample (automated sampling with hardware and software), and VALI-Melt (in-melt analysis and blend optimization)—serve scrap metal processors, shredders, and melt facilities to reduce the more than $50 billion in valuable metals lost annually to inefficiencies in recycling.

Product overview

VALIS offers a unified software platform for the metal recycling industry with three integrated products: VALI-Sample (hardware-software sampling solution), VALI-Sort (downstream facility insights and reporting), and VALI-Melt (in-melt analysis and blend optimization). These products work together to provide end-to-end visibility from material sampling through melt operations, enabling data-driven decision making across the recycling value chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VALI-Sample: Automated sampling solution for scrap processors that captures material composition data in real time, minimizing human error and increasing visibility into process performance.
• VALI-Sort
• VALI-Melt

Products and services

• VALI-Sort Ground-level data and facility-wide insights platform that integrates directly with sensor-based sorting equipment to monitor downstream facility performance, providing quality reporting, sourcing insights, traceability, shipment quality reports, process simulation, and process performance analytics for scrap metal processors and their operations, buyers, and sellers.
• VALI-Sample Combined hardware-software sampling solution that automatically captures material composition data in real time, recording high-resolution images, weights, particle count, and particle size distribution through a step-by-step workflow that minimizes human error, increases visibility into process performance, and triggers automatic email or text alerts when material compositions drift out of range.
• VALI-Melt Integrated hardware-software solution for metal melt facilities providing AI-powered automated feedstock quality analysis, in-melt analysis replacing dangerous button sampling, and blend optimization software that delivers a real-time feedback loop to maximize recycled content without sacrificing quality or yield.

Quantifiable outcome

• Recycled metal generates ~80% fewer emissions vs. primary metal from mined ore
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• MassChallenge US Early Stage AcceleratormajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022VALIS was accepted into the MassChallenge Early Stage Accelerator program in July 2022, joining 250+ startups from around the world. The program provided world-class mentoring, tailored programming, and unrivalled access to corporate partners. The program helped VALIS build connections to the Boston innovation ecosystem and introduced them to fellow startups. CEO Emily Molstad received support navigating the fundraising process from mentor coach Tim Stephens.
• Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVALIS conducted a pilot-scale launch of its flagship product VALI-Sort with Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries) earlier in 2023. This was VALIS's first commercial pilot deployment, establishing proof of concept in a large-scale metal recycling operation.
• Solvus GlobalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVALIS is one of five business enterprise units of Solvus Global, a company focused on advanced manufacturing technology innovation. VALIS co-founders Emily Molstad and Caleb Ralphs previously worked at Solvus Global. Solvus Global develops processes ranging from recycling scrap materials to manufacturing batteries more sustainably. VALIS's founding team learned the ins and outs of industrial metal recycling while co-workers at Solvus Global.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• TOMRA Sorting Solutions: TOMRA is the dominant sensor-based sorting equipment OEM for recycling, mining, and food industries. VALIS's software integrates with sensor sorting equipment including TOMRA's installed base, making TOMRA both a critical integration partner and a potential competitor if it expands into AI-driven analytics software.
• Steinert (UniSort): Steinert is a major manufacturer of sensor-based sorting equipment (including UniSort NIR/optical sorters) for recycling and mining. Like TOMRA, Steinert's installed base represents a key integration target for VALIS's software, while also being a potential competitor if it bundles AI analytics into its equipment.
• BHS (Bulk Handling Systems): BHS designs and manufactures large-scale material recovery systems and recycling equipment, often integrating Nihot sorting technology. It serves similar recycling and waste processing customers as VALIS and represents both a potential systems integration partner and competitor as it adds digital/analytics capabilities.
• Machinex: Machinex is a Canadian manufacturer of recycling equipment and material recovery systems. It operates in the same recycling facilities market as VALIS, providing sorting and processing equipment, and represents both a potential customer (through integration partnerships) and a systems-level competitor.

Direct peers

• Greyparrot: Greyparrot provides AI-powered waste analytics and material characterization software for recycling and waste management facilities. Like VALIS, it sells computer-vision and AI software as a layer on top of physical sorting operations, targeting similar customers seeking visibility into material composition and process performance.
• AMP Robotics: AMP Robotics applies AI and computer vision to material recovery facilities (MRFs) for recycling sorting. Like VALIS, it sells AI-driven software for sorting and material characterization in recycling operations, making it a direct competitor in the broader recycling-tech space, though AMP is more focused on municipal solid waste MRFs than metal recycling specifically.
• Zenrobotics: Zenrobotics builds AI-driven robotic sorting systems for waste and recycling facilities. It targets similar customers to VALIS (recyclers and waste processors) with technology that combines computer vision and machine learning for material identification and sorting optimization, making it an adjacent competitor in the AI-for-recycling space.

Emerging players

• Recycleye: Recycleye applies AI and computer vision to waste sorting and material characterization in recycling facilities. As an early-stage European company, it is comparable to VALIS in terms of technology approach (AI software for material identification) and target market (recycling facilities seeking digital transformation).
• Sadako Technologies: Sadako Technologies develops AI-driven robotic sorting systems using computer vision for waste and recycling applications. Comparable to VALIS in applying AI to recycling operations, though Sadako focuses on robotic actuators rather than software-only analytics like VALIS's VALI-Sort.
• EverestLabs: EverestLabs applies AI and robotics to recycling facility operations, including material characterization and sortation optimization. It is a comparable emerging player in the AI-for-recycling space, with similar technology stack (computer vision, AI software) and customer base (MRFs and recycling processors) as VALIS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/valis-insights

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors5 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 VALIS