Seattle-based ag-tech startup Carbon Robotics recently secured a new investment from NVentures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA, to support its AI-powered farming solutions.
Although the exact amount of funding was not disclosed, Carbon Robotics has accumulated $85 million in funding to date.
One of Carbon Robotics’ flagship products is the “LaserWeeder,” which utilizes artificial intelligence to detect and identify plants in fields, enabling targeted weed elimination using lasers. Powered by 24 NVIDIA graphics processing units, the device processes an impressive 4.7 million high-resolution images per hour.
Capable of eradicating 5,000 weeds per minute, the LaserWeeder offers farmers the potential to reduce weed control costs by 80% while simultaneously enhancing crop yield and quality. Notably, it eliminates the need for conventional methods such as chemical herbicides, manual labor, or soil cultivation.
In a statement, Carbon Robotics founder and CEO Paul Mikesell expressed excitement about the investment’s potential to leverage AI technology in revolutionizing farming practices for increased productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
Mikesell established Carbon Robotics in 2018, bringing with him extensive experience from his previous ventures, including co-founding Isilon Systems, which was later sold for $2.25 billion in 2010. He has also held roles at major tech companies such as Uber and Facebook.
Carbon Robotics is part of a growing cohort of Pacific Northwest startups leveraging technology to address the evolving challenges of agriculture, alongside companies like Aigen, FarmHQ, Pollen Systems, TerraClear, and others.
