Hauler Hero raises $16 million for AI-based waste management program

Hauler Hero has landed new money as demand for its AI-powered waste management software continues to grow.

The New York-based startup has raised $16 million in a Series A round led by Frontier Growth with participation from K5 Global and Somersault Ventures, among others, TechCrunch has learned. Hauler Hero has raised more than $27 million in venture capital to date.

Hauler Hero has developed a comprehensive software platform for waste management companies that covers a variety of functions, including customer relationship management, billing and routing. Now, like many other software companies, Hauler Hero is planning to offer AI agents to its customers as well.

Hauler Hero was founded in 2020 by CEO Mark Hoadley and son-in-law Ben Sikma, who encountered outdated software while working on mergers and acquisitions in the sector. Their goal was to bring waste management into the modern era.

“All the software in space was old-fashioned,” Hoadley told TechCrunch in 2024. “Sometimes we would talk about how this software reminds us of the Oregon Trail, and this reminds us of the cell phone that Michael Douglas used in the movie Wall Street. It’s very old-fashioned and archaic.”

The numbers indicate that the company has had some success. Hauler Hero said it has helped facilitate 35 million trash pickups since its inception in 2020. And it continues to grow, according to Hoadley, who told TechCrunch that the company has doubled its headcount, revenue and customer base since announcing its seed round in late 2024.

Hauler Hero has added new features to its platform since its seed round, Hoadley said. Most notable is a product that captures images from third-party cameras on garbage trucks and sends them directly to the software command center. This information helps waste management companies confirm transfers, verify invoices and better monitor their distributed fleet, according to the company.

Some sanitation workers and their unions don’t like the technology upgrade, Hoadley said. But he added that most unions prohibit the use of footage against drivers for disciplinary action, for example, and that the photos could actually help reduce drivers’ liability in accidents or if they are accused of missing a pickup truck.

“Think of it as if you were running a factory with no roof and no visibility into what is happening in that factory,” Hoadley said. “If you don’t have visibility into what’s going on there, it’s very difficult to have quality control. Quality control in this case is what was there, was it captured?”

Three artificial intelligence agents

Hauler Hero is now developing and deploying a suite of three AI agents. The first, Hero Vision, focuses on automatically identifying service issues and revenue opportunities. Hero Chat is a chatbot for customer inquiries. Hero Route will use route data to automatically adjust routes to make them more efficient.

“There’s a huge amount of data in our system about transfers, work orders, and billing information, and if you give those agents an understanding of your data model, you can just tell them, ‘Hey, go build a chart for me,’” Hoadley said.

Hauler Hero plans to use some of its recent funding to commercialize these agents as well as increase its offerings to municipal entities, a growing group of the company’s customers.

“I didn’t necessarily think it would be part of this journey,” Hoadley said of working with these public entities. “It came organically, as many things do. We just received from a few municipalities, and eventually we sold one and then sold another.”

Hoadley said he believes some of that demand is driven by the fact that its two main competitors, Routeware and Wastech, merged in 2024, leaving government agencies with few options for providers to work with.

Hoadley said the company is now focusing on fine-tuning and expanding its product range, and perhaps some new additions as well.

“We will continue to chart the course for the next decade to be at the forefront of delivering value to customers, leveraging the latest tools,” Hoadley said. “There are a lot of fun things and valuable things we can do for our customers, and we’re really excited about that.”

This piece has been updated to better reflect the investors participating in the Series A.