UpCircle AI

What UpCircle AI does

UpCircle AI (legal entity: UpCircle Technology AG) is an ETH Zürich spin-out headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, founded in 2024. It provides an industrial AI platform that performs computer vision and machine learning–based quality assessment of baled and loose wastepaper directly at paper mills and recycling plants, replacing manual spot checks with 100% inspection coverage. The product consists of the UpCircle™ Station — an edge AI hardware unit built on NVIDIA Jetson with camera-based sensors — combined with four modular software products: UpCircle™ Deliveries (real-time quality assessment of incoming wastepaper deliveries at the truck), UpCircle™ SupplierInsights (long-term supplier quality metrics and audit-proof claims documentation), UpCircle™ MaterialFlow (material composition monitoring in stock preparation), and UpCircle™ RecipeControl (material-optimized production control). AI models are calibrated per customer and improve over time via human-in-the-loop corrections, and the company holds GDPR and ISO 27001 certifications with data residency in Switzerland and the EU.

The company targets a narrow but industrially significant customer base of paper mills and wastepaper suppliers in Europe, with named reference customers including Tela GmbH, Klingele, Model, Transport AG, and Innoplastics. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales, beginning with a free ROI workshop and 45-minute consultation, followed by structured on-site commissioning that does not interrupt production. Revenue is generated through fixed-price hardware sales (UpCircle Station) plus modular software licensing on multi-year contracts, with an optional upfront ROI and potential assessment service. Customers typically start with a single module and expand over time.

UpCircle has built a deliberate ecosystem of supporting partners — ETH Zürich's Robotics Systems Lab, the NVIDIA Inception Program, Google Cloud Platform (infrastructure/data processor), and Swiss innovation funders including Innosuisse, Venture Kick, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, and Bridge (SNSF grant 222408). The leadership team of four co-founders is fully ETH Zürich-educated, combining robotics, material science, and AI engineering. The company is private, has not disclosed specific funding rounds or revenue figures, and operates with a headcount in the 1–10 band.

Name

UpCircle AI

Legal name

UpCircle Technology AG

Website

https://upcircle.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UpCircle AI is an ETH Zürich spin-out that sells an industrial edge AI platform — combining computer vision, sensor fusion, and ML — to inspect wastepaper bales and optimize material flows at paper mills and recycling plants in Europe. It generates revenue via hardware sales plus modular software licensing on multi-year contracts, with named enterprise customers including Tela GmbH, Klingele, and Model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial AI for Material Quality Inspection

NAICS

Paper Manufacturing (322), Paperboard Mills (322130)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Paper Mills (2621)

akta.pro primary industry

Paperboard Sheet & Roll Converting (Slitting/Sheeting/Rewinding) (IMAMAFAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Packaging Recovery & Closed-Loop Programs (Take-Back, Deposit-Return, EPR Support) (IMALAMAF)

Keywords

• Computer vision recycling
• Wastepaper quality inspection
• Industrial edge AI
• Material intelligence platform
• Supplier quality analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales (UpCircle™ Station): Fixed-price hardware sale for the UpCircle™ Station — an industrial edge AI system installed at the plant. Sensors are installed alongside live operations without production interruption.
2. Modular Software Licensing: Modular license fees for the software platform. Customers can start with individual modules (Deliveries, SupplierInsights, MaterialFlow, RecipeControl) and expand step by step — paying only for what they actually need. Support, software updates, and continuous model improvements are included in the contract.
3. ROI Workshop & Potential Assessment: An upfront ROI workshop and potential assessment service is offered as part of the sales process — calculating savings and yield potential based on the customer's real material data before contracting begins.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

UpCircle provides an AI-powered material intelligence platform that performs real-time, objective quality assessment of baled and loose wastepaper directly inside paper mills and recycling plants. The platform combines the UpCircle™ Station industrial edge hardware with modular AI software (Deliveries, SupplierInsights, MaterialFlow, RecipeControl) to inspect every wastepaper delivery, evaluate supplier quality over time, and optimize stock preparation and production recipes, replacing manual spot-check quality control with 100% inspection coverage.

Product overview

UpCircle is an AI-powered material intelligence platform for the paper and recycling industry, built as a modular system that digitizes material quality from supplier to plant. The core platform is offered through four integrated modules: UpCircle™ Deliveries (real-time wastepaper delivery quality assessment at the truck), UpCircle™ SupplierInsights (data-based supplier evaluation), UpCircle™ MaterialFlow (stock preparation optimization), and UpCircle™ RecipeControl (production recipe optimization). These modules work together to provide 100% transparency over incoming materials, supplier quality, and production yield. The system is powered by the UpCircle™ Station edge hardware with camera sensors and runs continuously at paper mills to enable the paperless paper mill vision.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UpCircle™ Deliveries: AI-powered wastepaper delivery control solution providing objective, real-time quality assessment at the truck before unloading.
• UpCircle™ SupplierInsights
• UpCircle™ MaterialFlow
• UpCircle™ RecipeControl
• UpCircle™ Station

Products and services

• UpCircle™ Deliveries Module that performs AI-powered quality assessment of wastepaper deliveries directly at the truck, detecting deviations and contaminants in seconds, notifying procurement before unloading begins, and generating audit-proof claims documentation. Sold as a standalone license for paper mill goods-receiving operations.
• UpCircle™ SupplierInsights Module providing long-term quality metrics for every wastepaper supplier with comparability across time periods and locations, enabling fact-based procurement negotiations, optimal material costs, and improved delivery conditions. Sold as a standalone license for paper mill procurement teams.
• UpCircle™ MaterialFlow Module that measures material composition in stock preparation and detects deviations early in the pulping process, enabling higher yield and more stable production through material-optimized operations. Sold as a standalone license for paper mill production teams.
• UpCircle™ RecipeControl Module for material-optimized production control that enables more stable continuous operations, reduced energy consumption, and optimized recipe costs through precise input material data. Sold as a standalone license for paper mill production and recipe engineering teams.
• UpCircle™ Station Industrial edge AI hardware system deployed live inside recycling plants and paper mills, running 24/7 in challenging environments with dust, vibration, and intermittent connectivity. Combines camera-based sensors, NVIDIA Jetson compute, Linux, and containerized software to host the UpCircle AI models on site. Sold as a fixed-price hardware unit paired with on-site installation and commissioning.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% delivery inspection coverage vs. traditional spot checks — every bale assessed rather than a sample
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ETH Zürich (Robotics Systems Lab)coreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology spinout from ETH Zürich's Robotics Systems Lab. Founding team (Dr. Hendrik Kolvenbach, Fidel Esquivel, Adrian Ensmenger, Dario Strübin) all hold degrees from ETH Zürich. The company was established as a formal ETH spinout with ongoing access to research capabilities and academic talent.
• NVIDIA Inception ProgramcoreTechnology or IntegrationMember of NVIDIA's startup acceleration program for AI companies. Provides access to NVIDIA's technical resources, hardware (Jetson platform), developer tools, and credibility within the AI ecosystem. UpCircle uses NVIDIA Jetson in its edge AI Station.
• Google Cloud PlatformcoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider used for hosting, CI/CD, and data processing. Referenced in the Privacy Policy as a data processor under GDPR data processing agreements.
• Tela GmbHcoreOthersEnterprise paper mill customer that provided a testimonial. Tela GmbH uses UpCircle daily for wastepaper quality inspection. Serves as a reference customer within the paper industry, with staff actively using the system and reporting improved data quality and new optimization levers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Valmet: Major pulp and paper mill process automation and quality control supplier offering industrial measurement and analytics solutions. Broad incumbent overlapping with UpCircle's paper-mill analytics ambition, with established global installed base.
• Steinert: Provider of sensor-based sorting solutions (including AI-enhanced sorting) for recycling and waste management. Broad incumbent serving recycling operators with overlapping material-characterization technology, but at much larger scale.
• TOMRA: Global leader in sensor-based sorting and recycling equipment, with deep penetration in paper and packaging waste sorting. Broad incumbent with overlapping capabilities in waste-material quality assessment, much larger scale and broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• AMP Robotics: Applies AI and computer vision to sorting and material characterization in recycling and waste facilities. Comparable on AI vision for material streams and recycling vertical, though primarily serving MRFs rather than paper mills.
• Greyparrot: AI waste analytics platform using computer vision to monitor and characterize material streams in recycling and waste sortation. Comparable on computer vision for waste characterization and industrial AI software business model.
• Sadako Technologies: Applies AI and computer vision to waste sorting robots for recycling facilities. Comparable on vision-AI for recycling material characterization, primarily operating in European markets similar to UpCircle.
• Eagle Vizion: Provides AI-based quality inspection of recovered paper and pulp bales for paper mills. Directly comparable on customer (paper mills), product (vision-based bale inspection), and business model (industrial AI for wastepaper).
• ZenRobotics: Provides AI-driven robotic sorting systems for waste and recycling. Comparable on AI vision for waste material identification and industrial deployment in recycling plants, with a heavier robotics focus.
• Mantex (Truetzschler Group): Mantex built sensor-based paper mill quality measurement and was acquired by Truetzschler, a major pulp/paper equipment OEM. Highly comparable as a paper-mill-focused industrial measurement/AI vendor now scaled through a global machinery incumbent.

Emerging players

• Recycleye: UK-based AI waste characterization and robotic sorting company. Comparable on AI vision in recycling with emerging-player status; serves MRFs and waste sorters rather than paper mills specifically.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/up-circle

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 UpCircle AI