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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Root AI

AppHarvest Acquires Crop Harvesting Robot Startup Root AI for $60M

Controlled ag company AppHarvest announced today that it has acquired Root AI, a startup that makes AI-based robots for harvesting crops grown in indoor farms. According to the press announcement, AppHarvest is spending roughly $60 million to acquire Root AI, with $10 million in cash and the balance in AppHarvest common shares. Root AI had raised $9.5 million in funding.

Root AI makes Virgo, a universal harvester that can be configured to identify and harvest different crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries. Virgo’s cameras use computer vision along with an infrared laser to create a 3D color scan of an area to determine what work the robot needs to perform.

For a crop like tomatoes, the system figures out the orientation of the fruit and determines if they are ripe enough to pick. Once it “sees” which tomatoes need to be picked, Virgo selects the most efficient route to picking the fruit and then sends a robotic arm and gripper to pluck the fruit.

Root AI - Going Cross-Crop

The acquisition makes sense for AppHarvest, which runs a 2.76 million square foot indoor farm in Morehead, Kentucky that is expected to produce roughly 45 million pounds of tomatoes each year. That facility uses an array of sensors, LEDs and other automated systems to control the entire growing process. Adding robotics harvesters to its stack seems like a logical next step for AppHarvest — particularly as the company is in the process of building out its network of farms. AppHarvest has two more farms currently under construction in Kentucky.

The company is also flush with cash, having went public via SPAC in February, giving it $435 million in “unrestricted cash” to run and grow its operations.

After the acquisition, Root AI’s 19 employees are expected to join AppHarvest, with Co-Founder and CEO Josh Lessing taking on the role of AppHarvest CTO, and Co-Founder Ryan Knopf joining as VP of technology.

Root AI Raises $7.2M for Its Harvest Robots and AI

Root AI, which makes an automated solution for harvesting crops grown on indoor farms, announced today that it has raised $7.2 million in seed funding. PJC, First Round Capital, Outsiders Fund, Accomplice and AgFunder all participated in the round, as well as Jason Calacanis. This brings the total amount raised by Root AI to $9.5 million.

Root AI’s robots use a combination of computer vision and artificial intelligence to identify when a crop like tomatoes or stawberries need to be picked. Part of the Root AI pitch is that it’s a “cross crop” harvester, so it can use different grippers to pick different shaped fruit. The robot’s AI helps the grippers pick crops with just the right amount of pressure to remove the food, without damaging it.

Root AI - Going Cross-Crop

Root AI sits in the nexus of a number of different societal and market changes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, robots were being eyed as a way to keep farms working even through dangerous heat and other conditions. With the pandemic still raging across the country, farms have reported outbreaks among its workers while the federal government has provided no rules to protect them. On a broader level, the pandemic has accelerated the potential for robot adoption because robots do not get sick and reduce the amount of human-to-human contact during the meal journey.

Root AI is also coming during a growth period for indoor farming. AppHarvest is building a massive indoor farm in Kentucky. Wilder Fields is converting an old Target in Chicago into and indoor farm. Even UK grocer, Ocado, has gotten into the indoor farming game with its Infinite Acres venture.

One key to making those indoor farms successful will be the economics of indoor farming. Will they be able to produce as much food as those high-tech systems cost? Robotics like those from Root AI, which will offer its robots as a service could help. In addition to not getting sick (or spreading sickness), robots like Root AI can run 24 hours a day.

Root AI is not the only harvesting ‘bot in town. Other players in the indoor farming robot space include MetoMotion, and outside on the farm, Traptic and Advanced Farm Technologies each have harvesting robots.