TerraClear
Inc., a robotic ag-tech company, announced the closing of a $6.1
million funding round, bringing total capital raised to more than $13
million since inception in December 2017. Madrona Venture Group led the
round with participation from existing investors. The company integrates
machine vision, aerial sensing, and advanced robotics in an end-to-end
solution for farmers to clear rocks from their fields. The company will
use the new funds to accelerate hiring, product development, and testing.
Agri-business is a $5 trillion global industry in which automation is an
increasingly critical factor. TerraClear is working at the intersection
of advanced technologies and the automation needs of the industry to
improve farming processes in innovative ways. Important but low skilled
jobs like picking rock are prime candidates for automation. The majority
of crop production is done on large-scale farms with big machines that
operate fast – placing a premium on uptime. Rock removal prevents
machine downtime from damage incurred when rock meets implement.
As part of the funding round, Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain
will join TerraClear’s board of directors. “Brent is a visionary leader
and he and his team are drawing on their deep understanding of both the
life and work of a farmer as well as expertise with robotics and
software-enabled machine learning to change how fields are cleared and
planted. TerraClear has brought the right team and tech together to
bring an important solution for farmers closer to market.”
“A primary key to successful companies is a world class team,” said
Brent Frei, Founder and CEO. “Nearly doubling our available cash, gives
us the freedom to continue to recruit the very best people as we press
for faster growth. This financing adds Matt McIlwain and his Madrona
team to our board. Matt has been key in many of the most successful tech
companies in Seattle, and is someone I trust implicitly to make us
better. And, we add Rhodes Scholar and former Navy SEAL, Trevor
Thompson, to the role of President. Trevor’s wide-ranging 14-year career
consists of leading world-class teams through exceptionally complex and
high-stress environments.”
TerraClear recently opened a lab and test facility in Grangeville, Idaho
to engage with large-scale farmers on a regular basis and test their
implement in field conditions. “Expanding our facilities into farm
country where we have ready access to 10s of thousands of acres and
dozens of innovative farmers for testing and development is very
important,” says Frei. The Camas Prairie is a source of much innovation
in farming tech, including 95% of combine self-leveling technology.
“The market is huge and we’re laser-focused on building exactly what
farmers need to make their lives easier,” said Frei. “At Smartsheet, we
started with a clear problem in a giant market – how can we help people
manage work more effectively. In many ways, the problem and market we
are tackling at TerraClear is as big and even more straightforward.”
About TerraClear
TerraClear Inc. is a leading provider of smart agricultural implements
and is committed to improving farmers’ lives by automating
time-consuming work. Founded in 2017, TerraClear integrates advanced
technologies such as machine vision, neural networks, and robotics with
farm implements. TerraClear maintains offices in Bellevue, WA and
Grangeville, ID. For more information, visit TerraClear at https://www.terraclear.com.
We are hiring!
About Madrona
Madrona has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the
Pacific Northwest for nearly 25 years and has been privileged to play a
role in some of the region’s most successful technology ventures. The
firm invests predominately in seed and Series A rounds across the
information technology spectrum, including cloud infrastructure,
intelligent applications, digital media and advertising, ecommerce and
consumer software. Madrona manages nearly $1.6 billion and was an early
investor in companies such as Amazon.com, Apptio, Smartsheet, Rover.com,
and Redfin. www.madrona.com
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