Four Growers, a robotics startup revolutionizing greenhouse agriculture, has raised $9 million in a Series A funding round led by Basset Capital, with participation from Ospraie Ag Science, Y Combinator, and existing investors.
While automation has long reduced costs and increased efficiency in row crops like corn and wheat, fruits and vegetables remain largely unmechanized, leading to significantly higher harvesting costs, up to 15 times more than grains. Labor shortages further exacerbate this issue, leaving crops unharvested and contributing to substantial food waste.
The GR-100, Four Growers’ AI-driven robotic harvesting system, addresses these challenges with unparalleled efficiency and precision. It picks crops five times faster than competitors, calculates optimal paths 34 times quicker than standard motion planning algorithms, and achieves 98% accuracy in detecting and harvesting ripe produce using eight stereo cameras. Its proprietary AI assesses ripeness and optimizes harvesting, providing scalable solutions for diverse crops. Their tech is operational on farms across North America and Europe.
"Starting with greenhouse tomatoes, which represent half of all fresh tomatoes consumed in the US, our technology has demonstrated its versatility across other crops like cucumbers," said Brandon Contino, CEO of Four Growers. "This funding allows us to scale our AI and robotics solutions, driving sustainable, high-quality, and affordable food production worldwide."
Founded by Contino and Dan Chi, Four Growers has secured over $15 million in funding to date and signed contracts worth eight figures. The company’s acceptance into Y Combinator in 2018 laid the foundation for investments from top-tier backers, including Basset Capital, Ospraie Ag Science, Better Food Ventures, Taver Capital, Xplorer Capital, and Pete Wurman, co-founder of Kiva Systems.