Four Growers, a company building harvesting robots to reduce the production costs of greenhouse growers, announced the closing of a $9 million Series A funding round led by Basset Capital, with contributions from Ospraie Ag Science, Y Combinator, and other existing investors. This funding round will scale the production of its flagship GR-100 harvesting robot and expand its global reach, particularly in Europe, North America, and Oceania.
In the past century, row crops like corn, wheat, and soy have benefited from automation, as it drives down costs and leads to increased production. But fruits and vegetables haven’t experienced the same technological advancements, resulting in up to 15 times higher harvesting costs. And compounding this issue is that since the agricultural industry is understaffed, crops are sometimes left unharvested, leading to significant food waste as produce rots in the fields.
The GR-100, Four Growers’ flagship AI-powered robotic system provides 5 times faster picking than any other solution on the market, finds optimal paths 34x faster than standard motion planning algorithms, and ensures 98% accuracy in harvesting ripe crops using 8 stereo cameras. And its proprietary AI detects the ripeness of fruits and vegetables and optimizes harvesting techniques, offering a scalable solution for a range of produce.
This technology, which is operational for years across customer farms in North America and Europe, has automated harvesting processes, transforming farming practices and helping to feed millions of people amidst rising labor shortages.
Brandon Contino, along with his co-founder Dan Chi, led Four Growers from concept to reality, securing over $15 million in total funding and landing over eight figures in contracts. And under their leadership, the company was accepted into Y Combinator in 2018, which paved the way for securing investment from key backers such as Basset Capital, Ospraie Ag Science, Better Food Ventures, Taver Capital, Xplorer Capital, and Pete Wurman, the co-founder and CTO of Kiva systems. Plus, Four Growers secured strategic partnerships with world-class agricultural companies like Syngenta Vegetable Seeds to advance the development of the robotic harvester.
This funding will expedite the production of the GR-100 model and enable Four Growers’ robots to be deployed to customer sites in various countries throughout Europe, North America, and Oceania. And the company plans to expand its research and development activities and technological reach to keep equipping farmers with superior tools for optimizing greenhouse operations.
KEY QUOTES:
“While we’ve started with greenhouse tomatoes, which account for 50% of all the fresh tomatoes consumed in the US, 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.”
- Brandon Contino, CEO of Four Growers
“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.”
- John Overbeck of Basset Capital
