Aigen, Inc.
Redmond, WA startup making solar-powered autonomous robots for chemical-free mechanical weed control in row crops; raised $33M to date.
Aigen, Inc. is an agricultural robotics company founded in 2020 and headquartered at 15365 NE 90th Street, Suite 110, Redmond, Washington 98052. The company was co-founded by Rich Wurden and Kenny Lee, who connected through the Work on Climate online community, motivated by a mission to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture by eliminating synthetic herbicides through autonomous solar-powered robotics.
Aigen's flagship product is the Element, a fully solar-powered, edge-AI-driven autonomous robot for mechanical weed control in row crops. The Element is a small, lightweight unit equipped with two robotic arms that physically thump unwanted plants at the soil level, destroying weeds without chemicals and without disturbing the crop root zone. Onboard AI and stereo depth sensors enable the robot to distinguish between crop plants and weeds in real time, enabling selective mechanical intervention. The Element operates entirely on onboard solar energy via a custom 205W solar panel that also serves as a wind sail, paired with battery storage for extended runtime. Under typical conditions, the robot runs for more than 14 hours per day without plugging in, and can generate a power surplus on full-sun days.
The second-generation Element (gen2) features an upgraded, wider, and taller frame to accommodate cotton, soy, and sugar beet field geometries in addition to earlier-supported row crops. All-wheel-drive units provide robust performance across real field conditions over multiple growing seasons. Each robot continuously transmits field health and crop data to the Aigen mobile app, offering farmers real-time intelligence about weed pressure, crop density, and intervention coverage.
Aigen's go-to-market model includes both robot sales (priced at approximately $50,000 per unit) and a fleet coordination and software service fee. The company had deployed robots commercially across more than 20,000 acres of US farmland by late 2023.
Aigen raised a $4 million seed round in 2022, followed by a $12 million Series A in October 2023 led by ReGen Ventures with participation from NEA, Cleveland Avenue, Incite, and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments. A further $10 million raise in 2025 brought total funding to approximately $33 million. The company was recognized by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in Agriculture for 2024 and appeared on TIME's Top 250 GreenTech Companies list for 2024.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
Aigen Element
- Model: Element Gen 2
- Launch Year: 2023
Solar-powered autonomous weeding robot using mechanical arm thumping to eliminate weeds without herbicides in row crops.
Contact Aigen, Inc.
WEBSITE
https://www.aigen.io/PHONE
+1 (855) 737-7645HEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
2020
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
-
Funding Total
-
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