Maka Autonomous Robots
Carbon Robotics raises $27M to scale AI laser weed-zapping robots as farmers report pesticide-free savings
Seattle startup Carbon Robotics raised $27 million to scale its AI-powered, laser-based autonomous weed-removal robots, which farmers say cut pesticide use, save time, and improve soil health while the company has sold out 2021–2022 models and reported over $20 million in bookings.
Isilon co-founder Paul Mikesell’s Carbon Robotics unveils Autonomous Weeder that zaps 100,000 weeds/hour with AI-guided lasers
Carbon Robotics, founded by Isilon co‑founder Paul Mikesell, unveiled a self-driving Autonomous Weeder that uses AI vision and laser thermal bursts to identify and kill weeds in vegetable fields. The tractor-sized robot can cover up to 16 acres per day and zap as many as 100,000 weeds per hour, aiming to lower the cost of growing organic produce.
Observa raises $725,000 from Paul Mikesell, Bill Bryant and Drew Bradley to scale AI retail-audit platform
Seattle startup Observa, which uses AI and crowd-sourced retail audits to track product displays and link them to in-store sales, closed a $725,000 financing round from notable investors and reported four-fold revenue growth and 23% average customer sales gains. The five-year-old company has 20 employees, has raised over $2 million to date, and counts investors including Paul Mikesell, Bill Bryant and Drew Bradley.
