From Slush to sustainable materials: Ambio raises €5.1M for AI-powered plastics procurement

Helsinki-based startup Ambio has raised a €5.1 million seed round led by b2venture, with participation from Montis and existing investor Lifeline Ventures, to bring greater trust, reliability, and speed to recycled plastics procurement. Founded in February 2023 by two former Slush team members, Ambio is developing an AI-powered, end-to-end procurement platform that makes recycled plastics easier to source, assess, and trade, covering the entire purchasing cycle from material discovery and sampling to long-term deliveries. I spoke to co-founders CEO Tommi Bergström and CPO Elmo Pakkanen to learn more. Fragmented supply and inconsistent quality hinder plastics recycling According to Bergström, the recycled plastics market remains fundamentally broken. "Supply is highly fragmented, quality is unpredictable, pricing is inefficient, and there isn't a reliable way for materials to be traded and moved." In the European Union alone, roughly 50,000 companies use plastics as raw materials,