What if mixed, unused LEGO bricks could become complete sets again — at industrial scale? Ilya Malkin, founder of Sort A Brick, is building an AI-first automation company that does exactly that. Using computer vision, machine learning, and custom-built hardware, his team identifies, cleans, and sorts over 100,000 unique LEGO elements by shape, color, and print, turning chaotic brick bins into rebuildable sets. After nearly 20 years in consulting, Ilya pivoted into hard-tech to solve a problem most people overlook: making large-scale LEGO refurbishment economically viable. In this episode, we unpack the technology, the business model, and why AI-powered reuse could unlock a massive secondary market in construction toys.
Introduction 0:00 Meet founder and CEO of Sort A Brick Ilya Malkin 0:52 “We иuilt the world’s first industrial LEGO sorting machine” 8:08 From consulting to hardware tech business 15:43 How to find the right tech people for your startup? 19:11 Raising €2M for AI LEGO sorting 28:54 How kidults are changing the toy business 37:31 How does the technology work behind Sort A Brick? 45:25 Competing with LEGO or helping them? 55:07 Brutal lessons from building a hardware startup 1:02:15 Where to find Ilya 1:05:39
Connect with Our Guest Ilya Malkin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyamalkin/ Sort A Brick – https://www.sortabrick.com/en-de Connect with Max (Host) Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/ 🎧 Listen Now Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437
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