What Carbon Robotics does
Carbon Robotics builds the LaserWeeder — a tractor-pulled AI robot that uses high-resolution cameras, machine learning, and high-power lasers to identify and eliminate weeds in real time, without herbicides or manual labor. The flagship LaserWeeder G2, launched in early 2025, packs 36 high-resolution cameras and NVIDIA chips to detect and eradicate up to 600,000 weeds per hour at the base, sparing crops with millimeter precision.
The company offers the LaserWeeder as both a capital purchase and a Robots-as-a-Service model, expanding access for growers who cannot make a large upfront investment. Carbon Robotics has been named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list in 2025 and generates more than $100M in annual revenue, with deployments across the US and increasingly Europe.
Who it's for
Carbon Robotics targets large-scale specialty-crop growers — onions, carrots, leafy greens, brassicas, and row crops where weeds are a major yield and labor problem. Customers include large producers in California's Central Valley, the Pacific Northwest, and Europe. The product is positioned as a replacement for both chemical herbicide passes and hand crews.
Pricing
Carbon Robotics sells the LaserWeeder via direct purchase (~$1M+ depending on configuration) or per-acre Robots-as-a-Service contracts.
Team & funding
Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 by Paul Mikesell (CEO), the former director of infrastructure engineering at Uber and an Isilon Systems co-founder. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Carbon Robotics has raised approximately $157M total, including a $70M Series D in 2024 led by BOND with participation from NVentures (Nvidia's venture arm), a $30M Series C in 2023 led by Sozo Ventures, and a separate $20M raise for a new stealth product. Other backers include Anthos Capital, Fuse Venture Capital, Ignition Partners, Liquid2, and Voyager Capital.
Position vs competitors
Carbon Robotics competes with FarmWise (lapsed), Aigen, Naio Technologies, and chemical-herbicide incumbents. Its differentiator is laser-based weed kill at industrial throughput rather than mechanical cultivation or precision spraying.