Carbon Robotics Raises $70 Million in Series D - October 21, 2024

Executive Summary

Carbon Robotics develops AI-powered agricultural robots that use computer vision and lasers to identify and eliminate weeds with millimeter accuracy, reducing chemical herbicide use while increasing crop yields.

Funding Amount: $70 Million

Valuation: Undisclosed

Round Type: Series D

Announced: October 21, 2024

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington

Category: AgTech - Agricultural Robotics

About Carbon Robotics

Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Carbon Robotics develops AI-powered agricultural robots that use computer vision and lasers to identify and eliminate weeds with millimeter accuracy, reducing chemical herbicide use while increasing crop yields.

Funding Round Details

Investment Amount

Carbon Robotics successfully raised $70 Million in this Series D funding round.

Lead Investors & Participants

BOND (Lead Investor): Leading venture capital firm focused on transformative technology companies

NVentures (NVIDIA) (Strategic Investor): NVIDIA's venture capital arm providing both capital and AI compute expertise

Anthos Capital (Existing Investor): Growth equity firm continuing from previous rounds

Fuse Venture Capital (Existing Investor): Early-stage VC continuing investment

Ignition Partners (Existing Investor): Pacific Northwest-based venture capital firm

Revolution (Existing Investor): Venture capital firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case

Sozo Ventures (Existing Investor): Cross-border venture capital firm

Voyager Capital (Existing Investor): Pacific Northwest venture capital investor

Use of Funds

The $70 million Series D (bringing total funding to $157 million) will expand LaserWeeder sales and services into new international geographies and fund new product development. This comes as agtech VC funding has declined 60% since 2021, making Carbon's raise particularly significant.

Key Metrics & Achievements

• $157 million total funding raised
• Over 10 billion weeds eliminated worldwide since 2022
• LaserWeeder can cut weed-control costs by 80%
• Increases crop yield and quality while eliminating chemical herbicides
• Computer vision identifies weeds with millimeter accuracy
• Award-winning technology combining AI, robotics, and laser systems
• Expanding to international markets

Business Model

Carbon Robotics sells its LaserWeeder autonomous robots to large-scale farmers and agricultural operations. The robots combine computer vision AI, deep learning, and high-powered lasers to eliminate weeds without chemicals. Revenue comes from robot sales, subscription services for software updates and support, and potential future licensing of the technology.

Market Opportunity & Competition

Carbon Robotics competes in precision agriculture with companies like John Deere (See & Spray), FarmWise, Verdant Robotics, and Laser Weeding Technologies. Carbon differentiates through its proven laser technology (10B+ weeds eliminated), reduction in chemical use, and strong customer ROI through cost savings and yield improvements.

This fundraising report was announced on October 21, 2024 and represents verified data from Crunchbase, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, The Robot Report, and official company announcements.