Recyclers and refiners
See the estimated precious and base metal content of incoming circuit boards while the material is moving — documented per captured board, summarised per lot — traceable in the web app.
AI camera system for e-waste recycling · prototype in development
AI-based sampling of e-scrap: cost effective, fast and secure.
metora is an innovative deep tech start up developing an AI based camera system for sampling of e-scrap. This camera system can be easily installed on the conveyor belt and determines the precious and base metal content of the passing e-scrap – by orders of magnitude more cost effective, faster and more secure than conventional sampling methods.
Benefits
High Accuracy
Cutting edge AI model matches accuracy of conventional sampling methods.
Cost Effective
Substantially more cost effective than conventional sampling methods.
Secure
Inherently immune to fraud and human errors.
Fast Results
Results delivered in a matter of hours.
How metora works
Detect
The camera detects circuit boards passing beneath it, tracks them and selects a usable capture for each.
Determine
An AI model trained on metora's own image and laboratory data determines the board's metal content from that capture — gold, silver, palladium, platinum, copper and aluminium.
Trace
Captured boards land in the web app with image, ID and estimate — groupable into lots, with totals and distributions per lot.
From belt to estimate
Illustrative demo · example data
Selected example captureA-01
Boardsper board
Example sequence overview
Results: 3 of 3
What the demo shows — and what it doesn't
The demo runs entirely in your browser with fixed example data: three boards are detected, captured and given example estimates for Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Cu and Al. It shows no real camera capture, no model output and no connection to a device. The steps detect, capture, estimate and overview follow the system's flow; values and timing are illustrative.
Technology and current stage
The model learns from photographs of circuit-board fragments together with their actual material composition. The composition of the training data was determined in a purpose-built analysis workflow.
The current prototype was developed for several categories of circuit boards and tested under real conditions on a conveyor. As the next step we are looking for pilot and industrial partners to validate the system on their material and in their workflows, side by side with existing sampling.
Every captured board as a record: image, ID, estimates, lot.
The metora web app brings all estimates together: per captured board with image, ID, time stamp and an estimate per metal, per lot as totals and distribution. Access is intended for customers and pilot partners.
Open the web app (external link, login required)Login required
Example lot (synthetic)
3 BoardsDemo IDper board
A-01
B-02
C-03
Total gold0.090 g
Total silver0.120 g
Total palladium0.012 g
Total platinum0.006 g
Total copper54.000 g
Total aluminium18.000 g
Who we build for
Industrial partners
The system mounts above an existing conveyor. We are looking for partners in plant engineering, conveying technology and analytics to validate the prototype with us on real lines.
Investors
metora combines its own hardware, an AI model and analysis software. The prototype has been tested; we are now looking for pilot and industrial partners. Supported by aws, FFG, Land Tirol, greenstart and Startup.Tirol.
metora in Japan
metora is a J-Bridge partner of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) and listed in its 2026 J-Bridge database of promising overseas companies. J-Bridge is JETRO's open-innovation platform connecting Japanese companies with start-ups from abroad. Japanese companies can request a meetup through J-Bridge or contact us directly.
News
Events, awards and partnerships around metora.
Programme14 May 2025
metora among the TOP 10 of greenstart 2025
The Austrian Climate and Energy Fund has selected metora for the TOP 10 of the 2025 anniversary cohort of its start-up programme greenstart.
Announced11–14 October 2026
metora at the IPMI SAC Symposium VI, 11–14 October 2026 in Golden, Colorado
metora is taking part in the IPMI SAC Symposium VI (11–14 October 2026, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado). Laurenz Birnbaum is listed on the preliminary agenda with a talk on AI-based camera analysis of electronic waste — meet us there.
Read moreUpdateSource as of 1 April 2026
metora is a J-Bridge partner of JETRO
metora is a partner of the J-Bridge platform of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) and listed in its 2026 J-Bridge database of promising overseas companies — the direct route to metora for Japanese companies.
Read moreCompany
Developed in Innsbruck
Our founders
Laurenz Birnbaum
Co-founder – optical systems and e-waste sampling
M.Sc. Mechatronics, M.Sc. Engineering Physics
Aaron Schulz
Co-founder – AI, computer vision and software
M.Sc. Physics, B.Sc. Computer ScienceContact
Contact us
Please tell us briefly who you are and what you have in mind — a pilot, a partnership or an investment.