Summary

Root AI makes autonomous robots for greenhouse harvesting. Their first robot is focused on cherry tomato picking, but they plan to move cross crop before 2021. Root has converted several MoU's to paid contracts ahead of schedule. This is partially due to Covid-19, which puts pressure on the labor force in greenhouses.

Why We Invested

Strong team that has the academic and professional credentials to solve the indoor ag robotics problem.
Execution so far has been strong. Team moves quickly and has a clear path forward with identifiable milestones along the way.
Technology seems significantly derisked for their initial product with most major obstacles out of the way.
Solid initial customer validation in terms of signed contracts and MoUs
Indoor ag robotics is a relatively new space with few competitors and a lot of room to grow.

Contact Root AI

[email protected]

Team

Josh Lessing

CEO/Cofounder

Josh was the first employee at SoftRobotics and served as the Director of Research and Development. SoftRobotics' technology was partially based on Josh's postdoc research. Josh has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from MIT and did a postdoc in Materials Science & Robotics at Harvard. He is the author of 31 patents/patent applications.

Ryan Knopf

CTO/Cofounder

Ryan was the second employee at SoftRobotics and served as the Director of Hardware Development. During his undergrad he worked with Prof. Daniel Koditschek in the Kod*Lab to develop three new mobile robotic platforms: X-Rhex, X-Rhex Lite and the Canid bounding robot. He has a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from UPenn and is the author of 20 patents/patent applications.

Akash Nandi

CFO

Akash started his career as an investment banker at Rothshild, he then joined Netflix as a Content Strategy Manager. Akash then decided to get his MBA at HBS, but dropped out to join Root AI.