Company to accelerate growth and scale production to help farmers address increasing threat from herbicide-resistant weeds
SEATTLE–(WIRE BUSINESS) -Robòtica de carboni, an agriculture robotics company, today announced it secured $27 million in Series B financing from Anthos Capital, Ignition Partners, Fuse Venture Capital, Voyager Capital, Bolt and Liquid2 Ventures to accelerate the company’s growth. The funding will be used to scale production of the company’s products, grow its engineering team, establish regional sales and support for customers across the U.S. and invest in the innovation of new products and technology. This latest round of financing brings the company’s overall funding to $36 million.
“The already demanding task of weeding has only gotten harder for farmers to manage as more herbicide-resistant weeds develop and the cost of herbicides increases”
“This investment further validates our mission to create tools that utilize technology to address farmers’ toughest problems,” said Paul Mikesell, CEO and founder of Carbon Robotics. “Weeding is one of the biggest challenges farmers face, especially with the rise of herbicide-resistant weeds and increasing interest in organic and regenerative methods. This round of investment will enable us to scale our operations to meet the increasing demand for this technology. Additionally, this funding will allow our team to continue to innovate new products and identify revolutionary ways to apply technology to agriculture.”
Brian Ames, managing director of Anthos Capital, added, “the team’s multi-disciplinary expertise encompassing advanced AI and ML, computer vision, and thermal energy, positions Carbon Robotics to be an important player in driving the agriculture technology revolution.”
A l'abril, Carbon Robotics va revelar el seu Autonomous Weeder de nova generació, un robot autònom que utilitza làsers d'alta potència per eradicar les males herbes mitjançant l'energia tèrmica, sense pertorbar el sòl. El robot permet als agricultors utilitzar menys herbicides i reduir la mà d'obra per eliminar les plantes no desitjades alhora que millora la fiabilitat i la predictibilitat dels costos, el rendiment dels cultius i molt més.
Amb 263 espècies resistents als herbicides a 71 països, la companyia ha experimentat una gran demanda dels seus productes, assegurant un nombre de productors de marquesines i reserves que superen els 20 milions de dòlars. Les granges que han encarregat unitats de desherbat làser inclouen Grimmway Farms, Carzalia Valley Produce, Mercer Ranches, Taylor Farms, Triangle Farms, Terranova Ranch, Bowles Farming Co, Braga Ranch, Duncan Family Farms i Amigo Farms. Carbon Robotics ha exhaurit els seus models 2021 i 2022 i ha començat a acceptar comandes per al 2023.
"Carbon Robotics està en una posició única per abordar problemes crítics que afecten els agricultors, inclòs l'augment de les males herbes i la disminució de la mà d'obra disponible", va dir Erik Benson, director general de Voyager Capital. "L'empresa està fent que les tecnologies avançades siguin accessibles als agricultors, donant suport a les seves operacions comercials millorant l'eficiència i la fiabilitat, així com oferint un mètode sostenible per donar suport a la gestió de les seves terres. La robòtica de carboni està canviant fonamentalment la manera en què els agricultors desherbeixen els camps i té el potencial de ser Deere & Company d'aquest mil·lenni".
Com a part del finançament, Carbon Robotics va donar la benvinguda a Eric Scollard com a assessor estratègic de vendes per donar suport a l'agressiva trajectòria de creixement de la companyia. En el seu paper, Scollard se centrarà a desenvolupar iniciatives d'expansió estratègiques que permetin a Carbon Robotics escalar de manera eficaç la distribució de les desherbadores autònomes i els productes futurs. Scollard també donarà suport al desenvolupament dels equips de vendes i de suport regional. Durant els seus càrrecs executius anteriors a ExtraHop, Isilon i Qumulo, Scollard va impulsar un creixement exponencial dels ingressos mentre creava organitzacions de vendes de classe mundial.
“The already demanding task of weeding has only gotten harder for farmers to manage as more herbicide-resistant weeds develop and the cost of herbicides increases,” said Cameron Borumand, general partner at FUSE. “Carbon Robotics has built a game-changing solution to solve one of the biggest problems in agriculture. Farmers have been innovative and resourceful in addressing this problem so far, but they deserve the best technology to help them execute one of the most important jobs in the world—putting food on people’s tables.”
ABOUT CARBON ROBOTICS
Carbon Robotics is pioneering the next revolution in agriculture through the deployment of innovative technology and hardware. Carbon Robotics’ first product, the Autonomous Weeder, is purpose built to tackle one of the industry’s biggest problems: weed control. By leveraging artificial intelligence and laser technology, Carbon Robotics’ revolutionary, high-precision approach improves crop yield, provides safer working conditions for farmers, reduces overall costs associated with modern farming, and creates sustainable paths to regenerative and organic produce. Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 and is based in Seattle. For more information, visit: carbonrobotics.com.
CONTACTES
Christie Melby
Communiqué PR for Carbon Robotics
Christine@CommuniquePR.com
206-282-4923 ext. 127