May 8, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

NVentures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA, has made an investment in Carbon Robotics, a leader on AI-powered farming and developer of the LaserWeeder. 

This investment follows a $27 million Series B closed on by Carbon Robotics in 2021 and a $30 million Series C announced in April 2023. 

There are currently more than 263 herbicide-resistant species across 71 countries, making weed control and eradication harder than ever. At its core, the historical widespread usage of herbicides has been a double-edged sword – having been key to achieving optimum crop yields, but with each application there remains a percentage of naturally resistant weeds that continually reappear and reproduce. This cycle results in more resistant weeds with each passing season, resulting in what are coined “superweeds”.

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 in demand.

The LaserWeeder leverages 24 NVIDIA graphic processing units (GPUs), processing 4.7 million high-resolution images per hour for unrivaled AI-driven plant detection and identification to target and eliminate weeds using lasers. 

The technology can eradicate 5,000 weeds per minute with sub-millimeter precision and utilizes the world’s most diverse and fastest growing agricultural image dataset comprising 25 million labeled plants and more than 30,000 crop and weed models. 

It also has the ability to capture real-time metrics on crops and weeds, sending them to the cloud and providing farmers with actionable, visual insights into their field farming operations at any time from any place. 

“With this investment, and using the power of AI, we can help farmers create farms and food systems of the future that are more productive, efficient, healthy, and profitable,” said Paul Mikesell, CEO and founder, Carbon Robotics.

This investment not only supports the advancement of a critical sustainability tool for farmers, but underscores the power of AI in transforming global agriculture and Carbon Robotics’ innovative role in the industry. 

The concept of the LaserWeeder has been proven by top farmers to reduce weed control costs by 80 percent while also significantly increasing crop yield and quality. By providing farmers with a weeding solution that does not rely on traditional chemical herbicides, hand labor, or soil cultivation, Carbon Robotics is at the cutting-edge of using AI to protect crops, people, and the environment. 

“AI and advanced robotics have immense potential in addressing the myriad of challenges present in agriculture,” said Mohamed “Sid” Siddeek, corporate vice president and head of NVentures. “Carbon Robotics’ innovative solution improves farming practices to increase sustainability and improve the quality of produce available to consumers.”

~ 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. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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