Seattle agriculture-tech startupCarbon Robotics Raised $20 million in new funding to help build another AI-powered machine for farms.
Its signature LaserWedder and the relatively new Autonomous Tractor Kit (ATK) are already being used by hundreds of customers, Carbon founder and CEOPaul Michael told GeekWire that “a new AI robot” is coming.
Mikesell said the machine, which is at least nine months away from release, will use the same AI system used in Carbon’s other tools but perform tasks without weeding.
“It’s very flexible, able to do a lot with the world around it, able to understand what it’s seeing, what’s going on,” Mikesell said of Carbon’s system, which uses AI, computer vision and machine learning technologies. “We see the ability to reinvest in that platform and double down on what it can do in some new operations.
“It will blow your mind,” he added.
Founded in 2018, Carbon Robotics made its name across ag-tech with the Laser Weeder, a machine that can be pulled behind a tractor and uses its technology to detect vegetation in a field and then target and eliminate weeds with a laser. The latest iteration, the LaserWeeder G2, was released in February.
Carbon Robotics raises
In March, the company unveiled Carbon ATK, formerly known as AutoTractor. That autonomous platform is designed to fit and control existing farm equipment and serves as the answer to labor shortages and increased productivity in farming.
Both platforms continue to grow and scale, and “things are moving really fast,” according to Mikesell, a longtime technologist and entrepreneur who previously co-founded data storage company Isilon Systems.
Laser weeders are active on farms in the United States and in 14 countries around the world. Mikesell said revenue is increasing every year, but Carbon is still not profitable.
Ranked No. 9 on the GeekWire 200 list of top privately held startups across the Pacific Northwest, Carbon was previously backed by NVIDIA and Seattle-based Voyager Capital.
Series D-2 attracted extension rounds Giant Ventures As the main investor. The UK-based VC invests in a variety of “purpose-driven” startups, and Michaels says, “They got what we were trying to do.”
Before the monster A $140 million investment round For Tidal Vision, a Bellingham, Wash.-based company is turning discarded crab shells into a valuable industrial chemical called chitosan.
Beyond the secretive new machine, Carbon is revealing more about the “large plant model” at the heart of how it does computer vision through its AI system.
Michelsle says the company is at the point where it has enough training data and labeled images that it can teach its AI about the basic structure of the trees it sees. This allows Carbon to run a model on every machine in the world.
If new weeds show up in an onion field in France and they eventually show up in a carrot field in the U.S., that’s the first time we’ve seen that weed can be part of a model anywhere and ready to go,” Michelsle said. “This means that if we want to switch to a new crop that we’ve never seen before, we can do so immediately.”
A laser sight is designed for aiming Meristem A weed and large plant model to kill it as quickly as possible helps it understand exactly where to aim its zap.
Carbon Robotics, which has raised $177 million to date, now employs about 260 people. The company operates a manufacturing facility in Richland, Wash., and added another in the Netherlands to address some trade and customs issues, as well as to set up machine speeds in Europe.
As far as competition goes, Mikesell said there are companies in Europe that claim to be building some version of the Lagerwidder, but he’s never been seen on a field or competed against one.
“It’s very difficult to make a laser weeder,” he said. “The targeting system is very special, and the AI is very special. It’s not just about identifying where the weeds are. The trick to making it work is you need a targeting camera to be able to aim the lasers. [while moving]And the people I’ve seen who say they’re going to build a LaserWider don’t understand the concept.”