December 5, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Four Growers, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based AI-robotics startup, has secured $9 million in its latest fundraising round. The company, which is Series A, will direct the proceeds toward scaling its flagship GR-100 robot and an expansion push into North America and internationally, including Europe and Oceania. Led by Basset Capital, the round extended to Y Combinator, Ospraie Ag Science and returning backers. Four Growers has a lofty ambition to transform ag by providing high-tech AI and robotic solutions to address indoor grower challenges, chief among which being production costs.

The Four Growers harvesting robots are designed to slash production costs for growers, starting with greenhouses. The GR-100 is an automated robot designed for tomato harvesting automation in commercial greenhouses. Through a robotic arm and four stereo cameras, the machine can identify and harvest tomatoes with what the company describes as “incredible precision.” However, tomatoes are only the beginning as the company sets its sights on additional crops.

Four Growers CEO Brandon Contino stated, “While we’ve started with greenhouse tomatoes, which account for 50% of all the fresh tomatoes consumed in the U.S., our technology has now proven its potential in other crops like cucumbers and will be applied to all fruits and vegetables in both greenhouses and fields. Securing this funding enables us to accelerate the integration of our AI and robotics into agriculture, improving global food production and ensuring sustainable, high-quality, and affordable produce is available for everyone.”

Four Growers Robot

Launched in 2018, Four Growers introduced its latest robot technology last year. According to TechCrunch, Four Growers has amassed a handful of customers so far while its AI-powered robot arms have handpicked millions of tomatoes. The latest Series A catapults the company’s fundraising tally to $15 million. Four Growers’ Contino suggested that demand is currently outpacing supply and the latest capital injection will help the company to increase its robot production.

Prior to deciding on robots, Four Growers reportedly considered vertical farming. However, as the recent shuttering of Bowery Farms shows, this market is challenging and capital intensive. Bowery managed to raise a whopping $700 million in high-profile funding rounds and still failed. The Four Growers management team decided building robot harvesting technology for existing indoor farms was the way to go. Four Growers is targeting an expansion to outdoor farms in the coming years.

Basset Capital’s John Overbeck reportedly said, “From the outset, it was apparent that the Four Growers team had made significant advancements in solving long-standing issues in the agriculture sector. Implementation of robotics and AI in agriculture will provide a great opportunity to enhance operations and significantly increase productivity. We are confident that Four Growers will continue to be a leader in this effort.”

Contino also noted that the robots aren’t meant to replace manual labor but rather augment it. On that note, the company is also hiring.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.