# Carbon Robotics

**Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/carbon-robotics  
**Vertical:** Robotics  
**Subcategory:** General  
**Tier:** Leader  
**Website:** carbonrobotics.com  
**Last Updated:** 2026-04-14

## Summary

Seattle precision ag laser weeding robot in 14 countries eliminating 10B+ weeds; $177M total ($70M Series D 2024 + $20M Series D-2 Giant Ventures) with LPM trained on 40M+ plants competing with Blue River Technology for herbicide-free precision weeding.

## Company Overview

Carbon Robotics is a Seattle, Washington-based precision agriculture robotics company — backed with $177 million in total funding including a $70 million Series D in 2024 and a $20 million Series D-2 extension led by Giant Ventures — providing specialty crop farmers with the LaserWeeder: the world's first commercial AI-powered laser weeding robot that eliminates weeds using high-powered lasers guided by computer vision without chemical herbicides or manual labor. Operating in 14 countries across North America, Europe, and Australia, owned and operated by 100+ growers, with 10+ billion weeds eliminated since 2022, Carbon Robotics' Large Plant Model (LPM) — trained on 40+ million labeled plants from three continents — enables real-time identification and precision destruction of weeds growing between crop rows. Named to the 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50 and TIME's Top GreenTech Companies of 2024. Founded in 2018 by Paul Mikesell in Seattle.

LaserWeeder's precision weed control addresses the herbicide resistance and labor shortage crisis facing specialty crop farmers: vegetable, berry, and herb producers rely on herbicide application and manual weeding crews for weed management — but herbicide-resistant weed species have proliferated as the same chemistries are applied season after season, manual weeding labor costs have increased 30-50% with agricultural labor shortages, and consumer and retailer demand for reduced pesticide residues is creating pressure for chemical-free production. LaserWeeder's AI vision system (distinguishing crop plants from weed plants at a processing rate of 100,000+ plants per hour using the LPM model trained on multi-continent plant data) and precision laser targeting (destroying weed meristems at the cellular level without soil disturbance that stimulates dormant weed seed germination) delivers effective weed control in crops that herbicides cannot be used in and geographies where labor is unavailable.

In 2025, Carbon Robotics competes in the agricultural weeding, precision agriculture robotics, and sustainable farming input market with FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC, herbicide manufacturer transitioning to bio-inputs), Naio Technologies (French agricultural weeding robot, $40M raised), and Blue River Technology (John Deere subsidiary, See & Spray precision herbicide application) for specialty crop farmer precision weed management technology adoption. The $177 million total funding from Anthos Capital, Owl Rock Capital, and other investors funds international expansion into European specialty crop markets (where herbicide regulations are stricter than North America) and the R&D for next-generation LPM model accuracy improvements. The 2025 strategy focuses on expanding the LaserWeeder fleet to additional crop types (row vegetables, small fruits, tree crops), growing the European market deployment (where EU Farm to Fork policy creates regulatory tailwinds for herbicide reduction), and building the data analytics platform from 10B+ weeds eliminated to provide farmers with weed pressure mapping and seasonal forecasting.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is Carbon Robotics?
Carbon Robotics is an agricultural technology company that builds AI-powered LaserWeeder robots. These autonomous machines use computer vision and precision lasers to eliminate weeds in crop fields without chemicals or manual labor.

### How does the LaserWeeder work?
The LaserWeeder drives through crop fields using AI-powered cameras to identify weeds in real-time. When weeds are detected, high-powered lasers instantly eliminate them with extreme precision, leaving crops completely unharmed.

### Who founded Carbon Robotics?
Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 by Paul Mikesell, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded Isilon Systems (acquired by EMC for $2.5B) and Clustrix (acquired by MariaDB), and served as director of infrastructure engineering at Uber.

### How much funding has Carbon Robotics raised?
Carbon Robotics has raised $177 million in total funding, including a $70 million Series D round and $20 million Series D-2 extension in 2024. Investors include Giant Ventures, NVIDIA's NVentures, and others.

### How many weeds has Carbon Robotics eliminated?
As of July 2024, the LaserWeeder fleet has eliminated more than 10 billion weeds worldwide since 2022, demonstrating the technology's effectiveness at commercial scale.

### Where are LaserWeeders operating?
LaserWeeders operate in 14 countries across North America, Europe, and Australia. More than 100 growers worldwide own and operate LaserWeeder robots.

### What awards has Carbon Robotics received?
Carbon Robotics was named to the 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50 list and recognized as one of TIME's top GreenTech Companies of 2024, reflecting its innovative approach to sustainable agriculture.

### What is the Large Plant Model?
The Large Plant Model (LPM) is Carbon Robotics' proprietary AI technology, trained on a dataset of over 40 million plants labeled from three continents, enabling highly accurate crop-vs-weed identification.

## Tags

b2b, hardware, automation, manufacturing

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*Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*