Hauler Hero has secured new investment as interest in its AI-driven waste management platform continues to grow. To date, the company has raised over $27 million in venture capital.

Founded in 2020 by CEO Mark Hoadley and his brother-in-law Ben Sikma, Hauler Hero was created to modernize an industry plagued by outdated software. The duo, who previously worked on mergers and acquisitions in the sector, were motivated by the antiquated systems they encountered. “Sometimes we’d talk about how this one reminds us of the Oregon Trail, this reminds us of the cell phone Michael Douglas used in ‘Wall Street,’” Hoadley recalled. “They’re very clunky and antiquated.”

The company offers an all-in-one software platform that handles customer relationship management, billing, and routing for waste management firms. Its impact is significant, having facilitated 35 million trash pickups since its launch.

A key addition to the platform is a feature that captures images from cameras mounted on garbage trucks and streams them to a central software command center. This allows companies to confirm pickups, verify billing, and better monitor their distributed fleets. While some sanitation workers and their unions have been skeptical of this technology, Hoadley notes that union agreements typically prevent the footage from being used punitively against drivers. Instead, he argues, the images can help reduce driver liability in accidents or disputed missed pickups. “Think of it as like running a factory with no roof and no visibility into what’s happening in that factory,” Hoadley explained. “If you don’t have visibility into what’s happening out there, it’s very hard to have quality control.”

Looking ahead, Hauler Hero is joining the trend of software companies integrating AI agents. The company is developing a trio of AI tools: Hero Vision, which automatically identifies service issues and revenue opportunities; Hero Chat, a chatbot for customer inquiries; and Hero Route, which uses data to optimize routing efficiency. “There’s an enormous amount of data in our system about pickups, work orders, billing information, and if you give these agents an understanding of your data model, you can just go tell them, hey, go build me a chart,” Hoadley said.

Part of the recent funding will be used to commercialize these AI agents and to expand offerings for municipal clients, a customer segment that has grown organically. “It wasn’t something that I necessarily thought was going to be part of this journey,” Hoadley said of working with public entities. “We just had inbound from some municipalities and eventually we sold one of them and then we sold another.” He believes some of this municipal demand stems from the 2024 merger of two main competitors, Routeware and Wastech, which reduced options for government buyers.

Moving forward, the company is focused on refining its product, scaling its operations, and exploring new innovations. “We’re going to continue to chart the course for the next decade of being at the cutting edge of delivering value for customers, leveraging all the latest tools,” Hoadley stated. “There’s a lot more fun things and valuable things that we can do for our customers, and we’re really excited about it.”