November 20, 2023

photo credit: Aigen

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Leaning into their backgrounds in farming, electric vehicles, robotics, and impact investing, Rich Wurden and Kenny Lee founded Aigen in 2020 with the goals of connecting farmers to breakthrough technologies, decarbonizing agriculture, and improving the health of both humans and the planet. 

Today, the startup explained it is the only agtech company developing truly solar-powered, autonomous robots for crop management without chemicals or fossil fuels. By combining LTE connectivity with AI, machine learning, solar, and battery technology, the Aigen Element robot creates a reliable, sustainable solution that saves farmers both time and money.

“Aigen wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, because the technology wasn’t there. Today, we have a great team working on the cutting edge of AI, robotics, electric motors, and solar power,” said Rich Wurden, co-founder and CTO, Aigen. 

“Thanks to technological advances in all those areas and the incredible work of our team, we are automating farming solutions that have worked for thousands of years and helping farmers get chemicals off their farms and out of our food.”

As the company continues to grow, it has successfully closed on $12 million in Series A funding from leading investor ReGen Ventures, along with NEA, Cleveland Avenue, Incite, and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments to scale its robotic fleet which is poised to launch on farms in the Spring of 2024. 

“Aigen is defining a new era for agriculture, where farmers prosper and people are healthier. Getting chemicals out of our food is not only incredibly important for fighting climate change, it’s also personal for Kenny and Rich,” said Swati Mylavarapu, managing partner, Incite. 

“The Aigen team embodies what Incite looks for in our investments: talented entrepreneurs who have the power to make the world a better place. We are thrilled to be joining them.”

With $19 million in total funding to-date, Aigen has successfully demonstrated and integrated all critical technologies to solve farmers’ most pressing challenge – eliminating herbicide-resistant weeds at scale, and is building a 7,500 square-foot manufacturing and R&D facility to produce their solar-powered robotic fleet which is expected to debut on over 20,000 acres of U.S. farmland in April of next year. 

Currently there are 263 herbicide-resistant species across 71 countries, making weed control and eradication harder than ever. However, traditional agricultural herbicide usage is tied to multiple issues and challenges – herbicide resistance, the inability for application in the rain or in windy conditions, the tendency to run-off into waterways, and stricter regulations and cases of litigation, to name but a few. 

And, as regenerative farming and sustainable means of food production continue to gain traction with growers, consumers, and investors alike, non-invasive and non-chemical means of weed control are becoming ever-more appealing.

Equipped with backup batteries in case of cloudy weather, Aigen’s robots have a goal to be more than just weeders. The company’s premise is that, at its core, photosynthesis is carbon negative, with plants extracting CO2 from the air and returning carbon to the soil.

With a focus on weeding and propagating, Aigen’s robots use a combination of sensors, computer vision tech, and specialized software to monitor crops in the field. By applying its abilities on a per-plant basis, Aigen eliminates the need for broadcast application of agro chemicals.

Aside from helping meet demand for organic and chemical-free produce, increasing crop yields, reducing inputs and their costs, and combating climate change, robotic platforms such as Aigen’s also address the scarcity of labor – a more nebulous, but critical, pain point in the food production process.

“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,” said Kenny Lee, co-founder and CEO, Aigen. “Our robotic fleet empowers farmers to escape the conventional system of chemical dependency.”

“Thank you to our amazing team who have accomplished so much in the past year. We are humbled by the support of our investors and incredibly excited to scale our fleet into 2024 and beyond.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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