Aiming to transform waste into reusable raw material is Daniele Pes’s passion. He tells Ellen Buchan how his company, Grycle, is helping to achieve this goal, and how winning the MBA Startup of the Year award at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2021 has impacted this journey
Daniele Pes, an MBA graduate from the Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano, won the coveted MBA Startup of the Year award at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2021 for his company Grycle.
The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to separate components of waste so that it can be reused as essential raw materials. Ambition caught up with Pes to discuss how his innovation may transform the waste management industry.
Can you tell us what Grycle does?
Grycle is advanced, patented technology. It is a small machine that sustainably transforms undifferentiated waste into flakes of raw materials, automatically separated and ready for industrial reuse. Grycle manages multiple materials at once and separates them all in one step. This is possible thanks to an AI module that is able, in self-learning mode, to recognise and separate different types of materials.
Why is the reduction of waste such an important issue for you?
In recent years, there has been an increased awareness of the need for a radical change in the human relationship with the environment. However, while everyone was talking about the problem, the Grycle team designed a sustainable solution, enabling a radical reduction of environmental impact. The difference between talking about something and doing something is too wide; we realised that and did something about it.
What impact do you see Grycle having on the environment?
Garbage is our waste and it is waste because we get rid of it. If we were able to transform it completely, we would no longer waste the raw materials. It would no longer be waste but a resource, which we could reuse indefinitely. This is fundamental in creating a cleaner, safer planet for all. If we could convert waste into reusable raw materials upstream of the chain, that is as close as possible to the humans that generate it, we would radically affect the impact of the collection, transportation and treatment of garbage.
What are your hopes for Grycle in the future?
Grycle has a lot of potential, but to evolve, we need to collaborate with established companies in the waste management market, as well as with corporates willing to have a role in the whole life cycle of their products that goes beyond greenwashing. The hope is to create a small machine that can be deployed in existing plants, and then to deploy it in apartment buildings, shops; wherever there are high volumes of waste.
The technology uses AI to sort waste materials, can you explain how this works?
In the beginning, we had to classify the curves and read through spectrometers from each specific material manually. By introducing the AI module, we introduced the capability for the technology to self-learn to classify and then recognise new categories of materials. Through deep-learning and the reading of a large number of samples, our technology can self-learn to recognise new materials.
You have chosen to crowdfund for Grycle. What made you choose this financing option?
After bootstrapping and collecting a seed from Corner Stones, our business angel, we had to invest to take our machine as close as possible to the final markets. At this early stage, we had to collect funds in Italy, where we are based. While the market of startup funding in Italy is maturing, it is not ready to welcome the kind of complexity Grycle introduces, in terms of innovation in mechanics, electronics, and software. We needed a more entrepreneurial approach.
Through crowdfunding, we drew attention from small entrepreneurs and many people sensitive to the environmental impact of our project.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in making Grycle come to life?
Finding the appropriate technology partner to accelerate the industrial development of our technology was a challenge. Waste management is an established and competitive business. In the beginning, even highly-interested companies often asked us to come back after the technology had reached a higher level of maturity. In essence, we were welcomed as external research and development, but we faced a low attitude to entrepreneurial risk.
If you really want to innovate, you need to take entrepreneurial risks.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs starting their journey?
Surround yourself with the right people who will stay when the game turns tough. Invest a lot in trust and relationships.
Why did you choose to do an MBA?
My MBA was the turning point between my career as an engineer and the one I have now. Before the MBA, my attitude was a more horizontal view of companies. I felt the need to integrate my competences with more managerial tools. My MBA helped me open my mind for professional growth.
How did your Business School support you with Grycle?
I came across Grycle through InnoVits, a non-profit startup accelerator operating at MIP since 2010. The support of tens of dozens of skilled professionals was key to move from an embryonic concept to an entrepreneurial project.
Have you been able to leverage the connections you made at Business School to help the organisation?
Our business angel Corner Stones collects the financial interests of the associates at InnoVits. The first fundamental funding came out of those very same people that supported the creation of the entrepreneurial project in the beginning. Most of them had an MBA from MIP.
How were you able to make the most of the MBA?
Developing the capability to translate the language of problems to that of solutions and use the language of economics has been of great help to increase the effectiveness of the companies and people with whom I collaborate.
How has winning the MBA Startup of the Year award impacted your career?
It was a surprise in many ways. If you consider that Grycle is essentially a team of five people who, during the past three years, have spent most of their time in a laboratory, such a public exposition has been unexpected. But it is also a valid confirmation of the potential value of the project.
What would your advice be to someone thinking of doing an MBA?
The main and most important reason to take on the challenge is to find the tools necessary to evolve as a professional and as a human being, through a continuous confrontation with many diverse competences, attitudes and talents. The more energy you invest, the bigger the change you will go through.
What would your advice be to next year’s finalists of the MBA Startup of the Year award?
Consider this as a great opportunity to expose your project to the external world. All the feedback is important to keep on developing your products and services in an effective and sustainable manner.
Daniele Pes left his role as Director of Open Innovation and Digital Transformation in a multinational fair trade company to dedicate himself to his new venture, Grycle. He completed his MBA from the Graduate School of Management at MIP Politecnico di Milano in Italy.
