# Philip Stanger

> Philip Stanger is the co-founder and CEO of Olyns, a Silicon Valley startup turning recycling into a self-funding business by pairing AI-powered reverse vending 'Cubes' with retail media advertising. A classically trained musician with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Yale, he scored films before founding indoor-positioning startup Wifarer, then led Apple Maps' indoor mapping team for five years. He started Olyns in 2019 after watching wildfires and floods hit the Santa Cruz Mountains where he lives, betting that recycling fails not for lack of technology but because its business model is broken.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Olyns
- **Organizations:** Olyns, Apple, Wifarer Inc., Paramount Pictures, BBC
- **Education:** Bachelor of Music (B.Mus), Johns Hopkins University (Peabody), Master of Music (M.Mus), Yale University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Olyns, a recycling technology company partnering with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mars Wrigley, Raised a $4 million Series A (2023) led by Vanedge Capital, plus a $1M seed and financing from Closed Loop Partners, Deployed 60+ AI-powered recycling Cubes across California retailers with plans for 300+ statewide

## Career timeline

- **pre-2009** — Worked as a professional musician and composer, writing music for advertising, film and TV; held roles connected to Paramount Pictures and the BBC
- **2009** — Co-founded Wifarer Inc., an indoor positioning / navigation startup based in Victoria, British Columbia
- **2014** — Left Wifarer to join Apple; his wife Lise Murphy took over as Wifarer CEO
- **2014-2019** — Led indoor maps as Senior Manager / Head of Indoor Maps for Apple Maps
- **2019** — Founded Olyns and became Co-Founder and CEO
- **2021** — Olyns raised a $1M seed round; CleanTechnica interview published
- **2022** — Olyns Cube featured at Super Bowl LVI in PepsiCo's 'Trash Talk' activation
- **2023** — Olyns announced $4M Series A led by Vanedge Capital
- **2025** — Olyns scaling toward 300+ Cubes deployed across California; appeared at GreenBiz25

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Olyns, a recycling technology company partnering with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mars Wrigley
- Raised a $4 million Series A (2023) led by Vanedge Capital, plus a $1M seed and financing from Closed Loop Partners
- Deployed 60+ AI-powered recycling Cubes across California retailers with plans for 300+ statewide
- Olyns Cube featured at Super Bowl LVI in PepsiCo's 'Trash Talk' activation
- Brought bottle deposit redemption back to Catalina Island after a 20-year absence
- Led the indoor mapping team for Apple Maps for five years
- Co-founded Wifarer, whose indoor positioning tech was used at venues including the Dallas Cowboys' stadium and Boeing

## Latest updates

- **2023-05** — Olyns announced a $4M Series A led by Vanedge Capital to scale its recycling-plus-retail-media network.
- **2025-02** — Stanger appeared at GreenBiz25; Olyns continued scaling toward 300+ Cubes across California.

## Links

- Website: https://olyns.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-stanger-34624532
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Olyns_recycling
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/OlynsRecycling

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/philip-stanger
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-08