Iron Ox builds a “closed loop system” — a robotic greenhouse that combines proprietary harvesting technology with data integration across the growing process. The company says its approach produces yields comparable to traditional farms while shrinking environmental impact and reducing sensitivity to seasonal changes. Iron Ox reports its system uses about 90% less water than traditional farming and collects large amounts of data to improve future yield. Co-founder and CEO Brandon Alexander has framed the mission as minimizing land, water and energy use and ultimately making the produce sector carbon negative. The firm has raised funding to support scaling and growth, and announced a recent round that increases its total capital raised to $98 million. Reported near-term plans include scaling manufacturing, expanding U.S. operations, ramping up R&D and hiring additional headcount. Iron Ox builds autonomous robotic greenhouses and hydroponic systems to grow leafy greens and other vegetables. Founded in 2015, the company operates indoor farms and in 2018 launched its first hydroponic indoor farm. It opened a 10,000-square-foot Gilroy, California farm that is already delivering to retailers and restaurants including Whole Foods and Bianchini’s Market. Iron Ox sells through retail and restaurant channels and said it plans a nationwide expansion of delivery next year and will complete additional sunlight-enabled, out-of-state facilities in 2021. Financially, Iron Ox announced a $20 million Series B, bringing total funding to $45 million to date. The company positions robotic farming as a way to address labor shortages and supply-chain issues amplified by COVID-19. Iron Ox develops autonomous agricultural robots and operates indoor hydroponic farms that grow leafy greens and herbs. Its core hardware includes Angus, a 1,000-pound robot that moves hydroponic pallets, and a robotic arm that harvests plants using stereo cameras, all coordinated by a cloud-based control system. The current production farm grows romaine, butterhead, kale, basil, cilantro and chives and can produce about 26,000 plants per year—equivalent to a one-acre outdoor farm but at much higher density and yield. The team found LED-only indoor lighting makes electricity costs too high, so it plans to deploy traditional greenhouses augmented with high-efficiency LEDs for future sites, which shifts builds outside dense urban cores. Founders Brandon Alexander and Jon Binney drew on prior robotics experience and customer conversations (farmers facing labor shortages; chefs wanting predictability and quality) to design the product and go-to-market approach. Financially, Iron Ox has raised more than $5 million to date, including a $3 million round announced earlier this year, and plans to start selling produce from the first autonomous farm and scale to additional locations.

Total raised

$78M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Sep 2021