During a college graduation party in 2015, Luis Perez overheard several of his classmates complaining about their tight schedule of moving out of student housing while studying for midterm exams. So Perez, a Venezuelan student studying abroad in the United States, offered to pick up their belongings, store them, and even sell them the junk they didn’t want.
That effort quickly morphed into his startup Remoov, which now converts unused possessions into items for sale or donation, keeping much of it out of harmful landfills.
“At a party the week before graduation, I heard several of my classmates say over and over again that they had had a tough week with exams and had no idea how they were going to leave the house and move in for the weekend. I heard you, the semester is over,” Perez said.
By helping his classmates move, he also realized that he too had a chance to make an impact on his environment. Waste is responsible for 20% of all methane gas emissions, and 25% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the manufacturing of new products.
His first project quickly evolved into something much bigger.
“The next year, we started promoting the service and started to see interest from traditional residential customers, such as people who needed to move, redecorate, or liquidate real estate,” Perez explained. “We spent the next few months talking to these customers to understand their problems and needs, and began building Remoov into its current form.”
Mr. Perez quickly identified other sources of income. He realized that a real estate agent, known for its deep connections with all kinds of services for its clients, needed someone to help get properties out of the house as quickly as possible. He thought Remoov could be a way to make moving less stressful, so he started contacting real estate agents.
Over the years, the company has invested in implementing technology that further streamlines the moving process. The startup helps customers dispose of their furniture and belongings with just a few clicks of a mouse or smartphone keypad.
After taking a photo of the item, Remoov’s technology does the initial sorting for sale, donation, or recycling. Many are resold to Remoov’s e-commerce marketplace and other second-hand goods companies such as Chairish, recovering the value of the old items.
Immigrant founder success stories
Perez, an immigrant from Venezuela, attributes his motivation for starting a startup to his background. “Like most immigrants, I believe that resilience is an important and important characteristic in building a company,” he said. “The ability to take risks and not give up is essential, especially when starting a company in a new field.”
He added that growing up in Venezuela “you learn to be very resourceful and often look for ways to solve problems in chaotic situations.”
Perez was born in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and spent his childhood there until 1998, when he moved to the United States to further his education and entrepreneurial ambitions.
Extracting value from old or used items can be a pain. It’s a tough job, but Perez knows someone has to do it. Why not him?
He highlights other resale marketplaces like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace as competitors, but these are generally more time-consuming, do-it-yourself solutions. Other companies, such as Junk King and his 1-800-GOT-JUNK, also strive to keep items out of landfills as much as possible.
With Remoov, Perez has created a tool that is truly easy to use. Customers submit images and descriptions of items they want to dispose of themselves through the company’s easy-to-navigate website. Remoov provides a quick quote showing which items can be resold or donated and which items should be disposed of.
Clients can then schedule a pickup appointment via the link provided. In addition to selling his products on his own online platform, Remoov also uses other marketplaces such as his Reverb for music items and Chairish for furniture. Perez said his company’s aim is to specialize in the secondary goods market, automatically determining the value of a product and the appropriate sales channel.
Promoting a circular economy
Recently, the United Nations released its latest report on the global waste situation. Globally, the amount of waste is increasing by 2.6 million tonnes per year and is expected to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, a 33% increase from the 2022 figure. That’s why Perez said preventing items from ending up in landfills is an important mission for Remoov.
“The mission is to reduce waste by increasing reuse,” he explained. “This is part of the circular economy movement. Over 30% of greenhouse gas emissions come from manufacturing products. It’s important to keep it in circulation for a long time.”
From a sustainability perspective, the startup focuses on specific metrics. “We track his three main indicators: the amount diverted from landfills through resale, donation and recycling; the CO2 reduction through reuse; the equivalent of absorption by trees,” Perez explained. .
Mr. Perez also emphasized his company’s commitment to the communities in which it operates.
“We partner with nonprofit organizations that support our communities,” he said, and also partner with local organizations and businesses, such as real estate agents, property managers, and commercial associations, to “support our businesses.” “We are striving to provide more sustainable alternatives.”
AI for sustainability
Remoov also leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiency.
“AI is the cornerstone of Remoov’s future,” the founders emphasized. “We are increasingly relying on AI and automation to run our businesses efficiently. This includes everything from how we identify, price, and resell select inventory. Masu.”
Other areas of recycling are also deploying AI to improve sorting and other physical labor traditionally done by hand. According to a report from business insiderOptical sorting robots that automate the sorting process at recycling plants can separate 1,000 pieces of recycled waste per minute, compared to humans who can separate 50 to 80 pieces.
The artificial intelligence (AI) market size is expected to grow by $48.96 billion at a rate of 46.52% between 2023 and 2028, and the use of AI in other areas such as recycling and moving will be impressive. That’s not the point.
Disclosure: This article references clients of Espacio’s portfolio companies. This article originally appeared on Latin America Report and was republished with permission on The Sociable.
