ImpactAlpha, November 14 — Seattle-based Aigen has raised $12 million to build a 7,000-square-foot facility for developing solar and wind-powered robots that use AI to navigate, weed and analyze row crops. The goal: to reduce the use of chemicals and fossil fuel in farming operations, and help farmers save time and money.
“Agriculture is the intersection of human health and planetary health and that’s why we focused on creating technology for farmers that is both profitable and sustainable,” Aigen’s Kenny Lee said.
The company will pilot the robots next April on 20,000 acres of farmland in the US for weed control and real-time farming insights. Aigen says pre-orders for its robots sold out in one day earlier this year.
Agrifood investing
“Getting chemicals out of our food is incredibly important for fighting climate change,” said Swati Mylavarapu of Incite, an investor in Aigen’s Series A round. Australian early-stage climate venture fund ReGen Ventures led the round, with participation from Cleveland Avenue, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and New Enterprise Associates.
Since 2020, Aigen has raised $19 million, including from investors such as AgFunder and Bessemer Venture Partners.
