September 23, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Robotics and AI-driven farming startup Iron Ox has closed on a $53 million Series C led by a new investor to the company – Breakthrough Energy Ventures. 

This round follows a $20 million Series B raised by the company in September 2020, and brings total funding to-date to $98 million. 

Iron Ox noted that agriculture poses a ‘big problem’, being the second largest contributor to global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but at the same time, represents an even bigger opportunity.

Agriculture is the leading driver of land use shifts – such as deforestation. And if left to continue without meaningful innovation, greenhouse gas emissions could increase by 58 percent by 2050, according to the World Resources Institute. 

Since 2015 Iron Ox has been developing hybrid robotic greenhouses from the ground-up to mitigate the environmental impacts of agriculture. Employing AI-enabled, autonomous technology, the Iron Ox team launched the world’s first autonomous farm in October 2018 that leveraged advancements in plant science, machine learning, and robotics.

The company’s innovations, along with energy efficiency and flexible production at their core, lifted traditional farm automation and optimization to the next level. The closed-loop system delivers optimized crop yields, expanded growth cycles, and maximized crop quality, producing locally grown fruits and vegetables that cost about the same as those grown in traditional field agriculture, but with significantly lower environmental impacts.

By planting under natural sunlight, Iron Ox’ system leverages the power of photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert energy from the sun to turn atmospheric CO2 into plant biomass, which Iron Ox calls “the most scalable carbon capture technology on Earth”.

“World-class investors know that humanity’s most important pursuit is to reverse climate change. To get there, we can’t settle for incrementally more sustainable crops — and we can’t ask consumers to compromise on taste, convenience, or value,” said Brandon Alexander, co-founder and CEO, Iron Ox. “We are applying technology to minimize the amount of land, water and energy needed to nourish a growing population. The team at Iron Ox will not stop until we achieve our long-term mission of making the produce sector carbon negative.”

A new backer of this mission is Breakthrough Energy Ventures – an investor dedicated to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 that is backed by some of the top business leaders in the world.

Each of the cutting-edge companies that Breakthrough invests in is working in their own way to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change through the reduction of emissions from agriculture, electricity, manufacturing, building, and transportation on a global scale.

“Our decision to invest in Iron Ox aligns with our aim to accelerate transitions that can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “Iron Ox is uniquely positioned to accelerate the shift towards climate-friendly agriculture, while increasing the accessibility and quality of fresh produce. It’s the type of solution that’s designed to scale quickly and has the potential to get us one big step closer to net zero.”

Operating farms across Northern California, Iron Ox broke ground earlier this year on a new 535,000 square-foot indoor farm in Lockhart, Texas. 

At the time, Iron Ox co-founder and CEO Brandon Alexander said, “We have made it our mission to address food security by developing autonomous greenhouses that grow a variety of local and consistently delicious food for everyone.”

“We’re excited to begin development of our newest indoor farm here in Lockhart—our first out-of-state facility. We look forward to further developing ties to the local community and to expanding our partnerships and distribution channels throughout the state of Texas.”

The capital from this newest round of funding will be used by Iron Ox to expand its R&D programs, to accelerate the scale-up of its manufacturing, and to expand its operations across the U.S.

Currently, the company is actively recruiting plant scientists, engineers, greenhouse operators, and robotics specialists.

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor 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 Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.