# Rebecca Hu-Thrams

> Rebecca Hu-Thrams is the co-founder and CEO of Glacier, a San Francisco-based company building AI-powered robotic arms that sort recyclables in material recovery facilities. Raised by Chinese immigrant parents who instilled a 'reduce, reuse, recycle' ethos, she channeled her Bain consulting background and Thumbtack operating experience into tackling what she calls 'the most demented form of manufacturing on the planet.' Glacier's robots, trained on 3.8 billion images of waste, sort 70+ material categories at 60 picks per minute - preventing roughly 10 million items per robot from reaching landfill annually. Named Fast Company's #1 Most Innovative Company in Robotics & Engineering for 2026, Glacier has raised $33.2 million including a $16M Series A extension in April 2025 backed by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and New Enterprise Associates.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Glacier
- **Organizations:** Glacier, Bain & Company, Thumbtack
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Amherst College
- **Known for:** Co-founded Glacier, which now prevents ~10 million items per robot from reaching landfill annually, Raised $33.2M total funding including from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and New Enterprise Associates, Fast Company #1 Most Innovative Company in Robotics & Engineering (2026)

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Consultant at Bain & Company
- **2015-2018** — Senior Manager of Category at Thumbtack, leading Events, Wellness, Business Services, Classes, and Pets verticals
- **2019** — Co-founded Glacier with Areeb Malik to automate recycling using AI-powered robots
- **2022-04** — Raised $4.5M seed round
- **2022** — Secured Series A from NEA, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, AlleyCorp, Overture, and others
- **2024** — Won RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award; named to Waste360 40 Under 40
- **2025-04** — Raised $16M Series A extension led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund
- **2025-10** — Named to TIME Magazine Best Inventions of 2025
- **2026** — Fast Company names Glacier #1 Most Innovative Company in Robotics & Engineering

## Achievements

- Co-founded Glacier, which now prevents ~10 million items per robot from reaching landfill annually
- Raised $33.2M total funding including from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and New Enterprise Associates
- Fast Company #1 Most Innovative Company in Robotics & Engineering (2026)
- TIME Magazine Best Inventions of 2025
- Waste360 40 Under 40
- RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award (2024)
- Deployed robots across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, and other major U.S. cities
- Partnership with Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, AB InBev, and Unilever
- Glacier's robots serve recycling for nearly 1 in 10 American households
- Speaker at Aspen Ideas Festival

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Fast Company names Glacier the #1 Most Innovative Company in Robotics & Engineering for 2026
- **2025-10** — Glacier featured in TIME Magazine Best Inventions of 2025
- **2025-04** — Glacier raises $16M Series A extension led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, with participation from Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, NEA, AlleyCorp, and others

## Links

- Website: https://endwaste.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccabhu/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/glaciertechinc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebecca_who/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rebecca-hu-thrams
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-23