CommanderAI has raised a $5 million seed round to scale its AI-driven sales intelligence platform designed specifically for the waste hauling industry. The round was led by 11 Tribes Ventures and Watchfire Ventures, with participation from additional strategic investors. The new funding will support the company’s commercial expansion and continued product development as it aims to modernize sales processes in a sector that has historically lacked advanced technology tools.
Based in Los Angeles, CommanderAI has built a prospecting-first platform that identifies and prioritizes new business opportunities for waste haulers. The company has experienced rapid adoption, welcoming dozens of new customers in recent weeks and generating more than 30,000 net new business leads that traditional manual prospecting methods would not have uncovered. The platform addresses common challenges in the waste hauling market, where many sales teams rely on spreadsheets, manual outreach, and limited market visibility.
The company’s platform is designed to remove friction from prospecting workflows by connecting waste haulers to relevant opportunities and helping them convert those opportunities into meetings, quotes, and contracts. This is intended to reduce time spent searching for leads while increasing the rate of route and contract expansion.
Investors cited CommanderAI’s early traction and immediate customer impact as key reasons for their participation in the funding round. They also pointed to the company’s strategy of combining industry knowledge with the practical application of AI to drive revenue growth in a large market where technology adoption has previously lagged.
CommanderAI plans to use the capital to expand sales, support, and engineering efforts, while also preparing to extend its platform into additional traditional service industries that face similar sales and prospecting inefficiencies. The platform is currently available to waste haulers across the United States.
KEY QUOTES
“I spent five years in waste industry sales using nothing but spreadsheets and determination. I faced the same challenges our customers struggle with each day, and that frustration inspired me to build CommanderAI. We are bringing the combined power of AI and industry expertise to a sector that is primed for disruption. This funding round supercharges our mission of helping haulers find and sell to the right people in a clear and straightforward way.”
David Berg, CEO, CommanderAI
“Working with CommanderAI has completely transformed our sales process and driven a significant boost in revenue. It’s a powerful platform that eliminates guesswork, proving that technology is the new engine for growth in our industry.”
Gary Altunyan, Founder, Easy Waste Management
“CommanderAI is bringing highly functional AI to the waste industry. By turning live local signals into qualified opportunities, the team is giving waste haulers a faster path to revenue. The company’s ability to deliver customer victories almost instantly after adoption proves out their technology and market fit. That velocity, combined with a leadership team and CEO that are dedicated to a culture that is deeply humble, hungry, and smart made our investment an easy decision.”
Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner, 11 Tribes Ventures
“In an industry where adoption is typically slow, the speed and intensity of CommanderAI’s customer pull is rare to see. Unlike Salesforce or HubSpot, Commander was purpose-built for the fragmented, boots-on-the-ground world of waste management. CommanderAI’s early traction demonstrates the immense value in a traditional sector that others have overlooked.”
Devon O’Rourke, Founder and Managing Partner, Fluvio Ventures
